Ken Dodd's notebooks / his wife's decision

[randommm]

A random one here but on the radio this morning I heard about how Ken Dodd's wife has published his notebooks, against his dying wish was that they be destroyed.

I'm not particularly interested in Ken Dodd, not my humour, and he was before my time, but I must admit I felt very shocked that his widow chose to go against his dying wishes so much. The notebooks feature some of his thoughts and ideas apparently, and will now be displayed to the public in an exhibition.

I think I can sort of understand her not wanting to burn the notebooks, and wanting to keep them for herself for her own private memories. But the idea that she's now putting them on display seems very sad given he expressly asked her (and presumably trusted her) to get rid of them.

AIBU?

I agree. Why not dispose of things yourself? If you do nor, you create a situation for people. Especially if you are in the public eye. It brings stuff up, oh if only people knew x, if they understood y etc. Then what if they cannot bring themselves to destroy stuff? Many cannot. So then they die and all change again. If you want it destroyed, destroy it. If you want it kept in the family, protect it legally.

I suppose a lot of people would see something like this as an intrinsic part of their life/career.

Especially something like this, that was quite likely regularly consulted by Ken in the course of his work (I don't think he ever properly retired, did he?). Something that should die with him, but not before.

If he'd been an accountant, he might have had lots of notebooks filled with numbers, addresses and tax information that he used in the course of his job - stuff that the general public could never care less about; but as Ken was a famous unique performer, very much in the public eye, with a career that was also his 'brand' and often blurring into who he was and what he did as a person, I could well see that he considered these notebooks an essential part of his work, needed until the end.

Bob Monkhouse also had his 'big red books' that were probably used in a very similar way to Ken's notebooks. Remember how distraught he was when they were stolen. As it happened, Bob saw things a little differently from Ken, and (I believe), he wanted his family/friends to keep and be able to see the books after his death (although, interestingly, nearly 20 years after his death, I don't recall them being put on display to the general public. Nevertheless, can you for one single moment imagine Bob burning his precious big red books in his lifetime (like Ken, he was also active in his career until not too long before his death)?

Oh, inland and sea

I get it now.... you're right, not that funny

Diana’s sisters destroying correspondence, papers, diaries, etc.,
Sir Richard Burton’s wife, burning journals, Arabic translations,
neither requested when the author was alive, both shocking,
the only ones with great import I can think of at the moment
plus

the American shredder scandals, Oliver North and the office of
Hilary Clinton, set a good case for non destruction, gave shredders
a bad name

Ken Dodd’s wife Anne would not have taken this decision lightly
and has been pointed out upstream, it is nothing to do with us.
I will be reading it, that’s for sure - Doddy was a legend, thank
you, Anne.

what a vile comment

These notebooks have NOT been ‘published’

but form part of an exhibition, will find a permanent home in
Sir Ken Dodd’s native Liverpool, possibly in the glorious Library,

As you point out, Doddy was before your time, so chances are you would not appreciate his cultural significance, nor his wife’s devotion, whilst banging a
drum over a situation you have misconstrued without indulging in basic research.

I think it's awful. He should have destroyed them himself but I expect her trusted her to do the right thing.

What are you talking about? The OP specifically goes on to talk about being displayed to the public in an exhibition.

Going to view works of KD that he specifically didn’t want people to look at is voyeurism, nothing more.

That to @ThelmaBorden

Man gives woman a chore, woman doesn’t do the chore.

I’m willing to bet there were multiple times during their years together that she thought he should have done the chore himself.

bur I may be projecting

It's completely wrong. He didn't want them published. She should have respected that.

They’re not being published. A fraction of them are being displayed in an exhibition about his life and work.

He's dead so it's not going to impact him but I think it's disrespectful and a betrayal of trust.

It doesn’t affect him.
It may affect her, nobody will believe a word she says anymore.

It's as least as funny as the "top joke at the Edinburgh fringe".
All in the delivery, really