Simon Jordan; Samantha Spiro; Robin Millar; Steve Benbow
Libby Purves meets actor Samantha Spiro, record producer Robin Millar, former owner of Crystal Palace football club Simon Jordan, and beekeeper Steve Benbow.
Simon Jordan made his fortune in the mobile phone industry and in 2000, at the age of 32, he bought Crystal Palace Football Club. Ten years later the club was in administration and Jordan had lost everything. As well as recounting his own rise and fall in football, the book lifts the lid on how the national game works from the vast sums of money paid to footballers to the top-level activities at the heart of the sport. 'Be Careful What You Wish For' is published by Yellow Jersey Press.
Robin Millar is a record producer and musician. His 1984 production of 'Diamond Life' by Sade was named one of the best ten albums of the last 30 years at the 2011 Brit Awards. Robin has worked with a range of artists including Sting, Eric Clapton, Chrissie Hynde and Elvis Costello. He was born with retinitis pigmentosa and has been registered blind since the age of 16. In March this year Robin underwent a 12 hour operation to install a bionic retina in his right eye in a clinical trial to help research into future treatment for blindness.
Steve Benbow is an urban beekeeper who started his first bee hive on the roof of his tower block in south London ten years ago. Today he runs 30 sites across the city and his bees live on top of Tate Modern and the National Portrait Gallery. His book follows a year in his life as a beekeeper. 'The Urban Beekeeper A Year of Bees in the City' by Steve Benbow is published by Square Peg.
Samantha Spiro is a double Olivier award-winning actor. She is playing Katherine in The Taming of the Shrew at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London. Samantha played Barbara Windsor in the play Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick and Dolly Levi in the Open Air Theatre's production of Hello, Dolly! In Regent's Park in 2010. The Taming of the Shrew runs from June 23 - October 13 2012.
Producer: Paula McGinley.
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