Does anyone know any of the people interviewed for Withdrawn Traces?

[pocketcat]

Hello all,
I'm working on a long-form review/critique of Withdrawn Traces, the book about Richey that came out in 2019 by Sara Hawys Roberts. I thought I'd post on here on the off chance that someone might see this who isn't on other social media sites. I was wondering if anyone personally knows any of the people who were interviewed for the book or even simply contacted by the authors. Or even if anyone were themselves interviewed/contacted.

I've managed to talk to a few of the public figures quoted in the book (aka members of other bands/the music press) but I have no real way of getting into contact with any of the people interviewed who were just "regular people" that were fans or friends of the band or Richey, so I thought taking to social media might possibly have some results.

I'm aware of the, er, reputation of the authors on this forum so I don't expect they reached out to many on here, but I figured it was worth a shot to ask. Thanks!

[counterlanguage]

One guy who was interviewed for the book posted a video response to the authors' interpretation of events and his friendship with Richey - basically saying they'd quite heavily dramatised what he told them. Should be easy enough to find the video/him if it's still on Youtube.

[pocketcat]

Originally Posted by counterlanguage

One guy who was interviewed for the book posted a video response to the authors' interpretation of events and his friendship with Richey - basically saying they'd quite heavily dramatised what he told them. Should be easy enough to find the video/him if it's still on Youtube.

He pretty much answered any questions I would have had for him in his video. I did include its content in my review. His video is what made me wonder if anyone else who was interviewed had a similar experience. I've had confirmation of similar stuff from some of the music industry people I talked to, but the majority of people who were interviewed for/quoted in the book were Richey's university friends and other "regular people" who are not public figures or related to the music industry, which makes it harder to find and reach out to them to find out if they were similarly misquoted.

[counterlanguage]

Originally Posted by pocketcat

He pretty much answered any questions I would have had for him in his video. I did include its content in my review. His video is what made me wonder if anyone else who was interviewed had a similar experience. I've had confirmation of similar stuff from some of the music industry people I talked to, but the majority of people who were interviewed for/quoted in the book were Richey's university friends and other "regular people" who are not public figures or related to the music industry, which makes it harder to find and reach out to them to find out if they were similarly misquoted.

I can imagine it's really tricky +30 years down the line. I've not read it yet, but it seems like there's a fair amount of artistic licence been used to tell the story. Which isn't unusual really - e.g. the band said similar things about Simon Price's book.

[pocketcat]

Originally Posted by counterlanguage

I can imagine it's really tricky +30 years down the line. I've not read it yet, but it seems like there's a fair amount of artistic licence been used to tell the story. Which isn't unusual really - e.g. the band said similar things about Simon Price's book.

You're very right about "artistic licence", although it tips over into going a little too far a few too many times with heavier subjects and more serious claims and/or accusations, compared to the sillier and less serious embellishments in Price's book. Certainly Price's book paints a better and more positive picture of everyone involved, including Richey himself, even if it does veer into Price taking a journalist fan's artistic licence. I'm also handicapped by not being in contact with Rachel Edwards like the authors of Withdrawn Traces were, since it seems most of their correspondences with Richey's old uni friends went through her (unsurprisingly). I've written my review with all the resources available to me, this attempt to see if I can reach out to any of the people interviewed is kind of a final shot in the dark before I finish it up, just in case I have some sort of stroke of luck.

[Lee]

Debated on this book as I really wasn’t keen on purchasing it given the authors.

Found it second hand yesterday so going to have a read over the weekend.

[Routine Builder]

SHR's response to criticism's of the book which probably addresses the OP's questions:

https://www.docdroid.net/3RaBFIB/wit...3-docx#page=12

[Tish]

Did pocketcat ever publish their critique? When this statement suddenly appeared out of nowhere yesterday I wondered what on earth it was in response to.

[pocketcat]

Originally Posted by Tish

Did pocketcat ever publish their critique? When this statement suddenly appeared out of nowhere yesterday I wondered what on earth it was in response to.

I was about a week away from publishing it when SHR posted this retrospective. I thought I'd be publishing it much sooner but I kept finding more and more problems within the book. I'm now going back through my piece and responding to the retrospective where pertinent. It'll all be posted on my Wordpress here: https://jesuisgourde.wordpress.com/

It'll probably be posted up in several parts, but I'll be posting it all at once; I'm not interested in making people wait for it all to go up. Based on the kinds of edits I have left to make and the few thoughts I now want to elaborate on, ETA is probably beginning of October.

(For transparency's sake, this is not my FDF account; I'm using a friend's account since new forum account registration is closed. If you're on twitter you may have seen my posts about this project, as I'm @jesuisgourde on there as well.)

[Tish]

Brilliant - I'll look out for it.

[Suicide Aldi]

Originally Posted by Routine Builder

SHR's response to criticism's of the book which probably addresses the OP's questions:

https://www.docdroid.net/3RaBFIB/wit...3-docx#page=12

SHRs bollocks contiunes......

[Lee]

Very peculiar, especially given how long ago it was released.

[Routine Builder]

I don't want to drag everything up again though it sounds like a sh*tshow of a production. The selective use of I and WE throughout makes me a bit weary. Sounds like blaming the co-writer for the bits people found issue with. To be fair it does sound like the whole disappearance conjecture was forced on by the publisher to give it something interesting despite the fact that that element has been done to death. Again SHR basically does nothing to dispel the fact that she has a grudge against the other band members and comes as close as possible to slander without passing the threshold for them to take legal action. I suspect if there was was anything to back up their claims, they'd actually make them. Time to move on.

[UEF]

There's a certain sort of revulsion I've seen on forums, reserved for people who dare get close to their beloved MSP - ex-partners, contemporary bands, book authors and so on. I've learnt to season it with the appropriate amount of salt it deserves.

[UEF]

Before the authors of Withdrawn Traces were announced, the Manic
Street Preachers and their management sent a ‘cease and desist’ letter
to the publishers Penguin, Random House – with only the knowledge
that Rachel Edwards intended to write a book about her missing brother

Didn't know that!

That said the boys have had several books written about them (there probably isn't one they're happy with) and can understand them feeling weary to such things.