When I was in Sydney for the NSW Dickens Conference, I was fortunate to meet a number of great people, including the Australian authors Tom Keneally and Kate Forsyth. This photo is of me and Scott Whitmont, a bookseller and writer, who has a close connection to Dickensian history. Scott is the great great great nephew of Ikey Solomons, one of the inspirations used by my great great great grandfather Charles Dickens when he created the character of Fagin in Oliver Twist!
