ABOUT TONY On the Ferry: An interview Let's talk about the FOG or is it mist? When two Englishmen get together first thing they discuss is the weather. An old adage proved true when I met my fellow countryman San Anselmo author Tony Broadbent whose thriller, The Smoke ( St Martin's Press $23.95) is set in post-World War II London. "Funnily enough, the first line of The Smoke refers to London fog '...yellowy-grey wisps of fog folding about me like cast-off mortuary shrouds,' he quoted as we ferried across the bay. The Smoke, of the title, comes from the Cockney slang for London. In Victorian times, London was both the heart of the British Empire and the center of the Industrial Revolution, and smoke bellowed forth from coal fires, factory chimneys and steam trains, and remained unabated until the introduction of smokeless fuels in the 1960's." I was already intrigued by a story of a cat burglar who operated under cover of 'pea-soupers.' Tony's own memories of the law goes back to England in the 1950's ... "with policemen in long white overcoats standing in the middle of the road in Trafalgar Square and Parliament Square; with acetylene lamps and flares glowing a ghostly greenish colour in the background, and the dim yellow headlights of cars and buses not being seen until they were almost upon you. He captures this spirit of place with double-decker buses at a complete standstill in Oxford Street and the comraderie, the talking and shouting and bustle of street traders that depicts an authentic cockney London." "Writing about another era is of interest to a contemporary audience as it offers a perspective on history. My England was a time of severe austerity measures that went on into the 50's. Bread was rationed; and it wasn't during the entire war. Sweets only came off ration in 1953 as a 'gift' to the nation's children to mark the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. But meat was on ration until 1956. All of which led to a British mind-set that harked back more to the 30's than the future. This gave rise to the 'angry young men' movement of late-5O's British theatre and literature and film - and the 'teenage addiction' to rock 'n' roll and ultimately the explosion of 'The Swinging Sixties'." Readers who enjoy crime novels will appreciate the nuance of character and lively plot in The Smoke an intriguing story that has shades of the grey world of the early Graham Greene. Living today in Marin, I asked if this was too much of a cultural leap for American readers. "Not especially. The past is another country to all of us. And there is a glossary of slang terms at the front of the book. My editor was at first a little concerned that the language might put people off; but it's a feature that has been very favorably received. Language is key to time and place; and I've tried to balance the old with the modern; but the themes of the story are classic and very accessible. 1 know that George Bernard Shaw said, England and America are two nations separated by a common language, but in my experience I've found that Americans are very open and ready to explore new ideas , even if that happens to be unfamiliar words. The mist rose in the bay as we approached the city. Fog of a different kind, but as Keats predicted, Autumn is the season of "mist and mellow fruitfulness," but that too was about a different climate and a different era. The Smoke, makes a great read for those long Autumn evenings. Peter Robinson, The Commuter Times. San Francisco. September 12, 2002