To Orwell Today,
re: ORWELL'S VOICE & BLUE EYES

Hi Jackie,

About Orwell's eye colour. Here in Britain there is a recent biography on the shelves which has a photo of Orwell on the cover and it is in colour. You can see his eyes. But I think it may have been colourised using a computer, I am not sure:

GEORGE ORWELL BOOK COVER

Cheers,
Stephen Maule

Greetings Stephen,

I just went and looked at the photo of Orwell on the cover of the biography you mentioned. I own Gordon Bowker's INSIDE GEORGE ORWELL that was published last year and quote from it frequently on the site. I've seen it in two different covers but not the one you sent. I'm wondering if this is the same book with a different cover and abridged title, ie GEORGE ORWELL instead of INSIDE GEORGE ORWELL.

I've never seen that photo of Orwell but I assume it's been touched up with colour because did they even have colour cameras when he was alive? I've got a sketch from a newspaper of him in colour, with the eyes piercingly blue, but of a slightly darker shade than shown in Bowker's photo.

What I would really love to hear is a recording of his voice. I consider it a conspiracy that none has been made available to the world. He wrote and announced dozens of radio programs and news reports while working for the BBC from 1941 to 1943. I'd also love to hear the ANIMAL FARM radio-play that was aired on BBC in 1947. But "they" don't want us to hear anything good in case it rubs off on us so they are suppressing it, otherwise known as "destroying the past" or coveting it for themselves.

All the best,
Jackie Jura

Stephen says colour photos existed when Orwell was alive

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