In 1995 I was commissioned by Kevin Gurry the art editor of the beautifully redesigned ‘Cara’. The Aer Lingus, in flight magazine;
to photograph the world renowned author, Irish American J.P.Donleavy. ‘Ginger man’ was his most successful and ‘controversial’ book which sold 50 million copies despite being banned in Ireland upon its release in 1955 until the 70’s.
He had written a beautiful article for Cara magazine about Irish Wiskey. Uisce beatha the water of life. It tied in with the restoration of the Locks Distillery Museum located in Killbegan, County Westmeath, hence the chosen location to photograph JP amongst the whiskey pot stills. His classic trade mark attire fitted in so well with the environment along with his friendly cooperation, the shoot proved to be rewarding except for the fact that I had to drive back to Dublin (with unprocessed sheet film) so I was unable to join him with the sampling. Fortunately for JP he had his driver with him. He died on Monday aged 91.
