My World Music

 Brian Eno

What a lovely book it is. I am reading it and loving it

My first book, Left Field was published by Unbound,. my second, My World Cafe’ by Riversmeet and My World Music is published by me! It is available in paperback and on Kindle. 

I am grateful to Brian Eno for his praise and would like to add other comments to his. I am not asking for positive appreciations, indeed I welcome the occasional insult. ‘All publicity is good publicity’remains a truism.

If you have read the book please let me have your thoughts to add to Brian’s. Send to david@davidwilson.org.uk 

COMMENTS ON MY WORLD MUSIC

Brian Eno

What a lovely book it is. I am reading it and loving it

Orhan (Oha) Maslo, Director Mostar Rock School

Music saved my sanity and my life in post-war Bosnia. As Bob Marley said. ‘When it hits you, you feel no pain’. This book confirms that

Michael Walling, Border Crossings

Your Book is a total joy

Tarik Dervish

Congratulations again on a wonderful piece of work

Diana and Norman Boyer

Congratulations, a feat of love.  Educational, such a reminder of the music I've enjoyed in a transitory way You have an encyclopaedic knowledge of the artist that have crossed your path or you have seen & heard. 

Edwin Maynard

Wonderful book, David. I look forward to locating and following some of its many musical trails

Clare Thompson

Each chapter is an eye opener. I am – as always – humbled to learn more of your story of activism and bringing people together in your inimitable way. You are also making me listen and pay attention to music in a new way – again, thank you for the gift of listening//

Victoria Brittain

Your book – a great project

Deicola Neves, Camden Guitars

The only truth is music and this book explains why

Elleni Ross

Fascinating. I’s such a great idea to link stories of your life, to music and musicians.

Eva Zimmerman

 

It's so entertainingly written and the musical references very familiar.

My World Music is available on Kindle , as a paperback 

and can be bought at Camden Guitars  

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"David Wilson has lived a life and a half. I was proud to play a minor role in War Child, an organisation in which David was inspirational. The broken world needed people like David then; it still does and it always will." -- Sir Tom Stoppard

"David Wilson is an adventurer and a free-thinker who ... did something truly useful with his life. His stubborn and yet self-effacing commitment to his ideals carried him through many daunting situations, and his sense of humour kept him able to see the funny side."-- Brian Eno

"What a life this man has led" - Dorothy Byrne, former head of Channel 4 TV News

"David Wilson is a national treasure" Mandla Langa, Winner of 2009 Commonwealth Prize

david@davidwilson.org.uk

Ashes to ashes, dust io dust

David Maxim Triesman, Baron Triesman (30 October 1943 – 30 January 2026)

I knew David Triesman when we were both students at Essex University. He was suspended in May 1968 after helping disrupt a meeting about chemical warfare, addressed by a speaker from the Ministry of Defence. His suspension was one of the reasons why the students and teaching staff declared the campus a ‘free’ university.

I introduced Triesman to my father who was Editor of The Lancet and he invited him to write about the May ‘68 events.

For a number of years, Triesman was a lecturer at South Bank Polytechnic, before becoming a full-time official at NATFHE, the lecturer’s union.

When I taught at Kilburn Polytechnic in north London in the 1980s, Triesman was national negotiating secretary at NATFHE. One of my fellow Kilburn lecturers, John Fernandes, taught at the police cadet school in Hendon and revealed racism there. He was threatened with dismissal and the national union management, including Triesman, refused to back him. Suported by rank and file action he kept his job. (thank you Merilyn Moos for reminding me of this).

Triesman moved on to become General Secretary of the Association of University Teachers while starting a new life in real estate, banking, publishing and fine art. He was an executive board member at the investment firm, Salamanca Group. He served on the boards of other companies, including chairing Victoria Management, UBS and Templewood Merchant Bank. Triesman was a director of Havin Bank (Havana International Bank) and One Ocean Enterprises. In 2011 he set upTriesman Associates, an investment company in private equity and finance. He was also Chairman of the Football Association.

Back in the political world he was appointed General Secretary of the Labour Party in 2001 and made a life peer in 2004. Triesman resigned from the party in 2019, stating that under Jeremy Corbyn it had become "no longer a safe political environment" for Jewish people. He spoke about the need to ‘defend’ Israel.

I have spent my life fighting for the ideals of May 1968, championing radical freedom, anti-authoritarianism, sexual liberation, rank-and-file trade unionism and the rejection of capitalist society.

I cannot understand how or why people such as David Triesman move so easily and swiftly from left to right, fom understanding how the system works to working for, and benefitting from, that system. I am not religious, but agree with the Christian Book of Common Prayer about those ashes and dust. It’s where quantum physics meets religious belief. Once we recognise that, we can become truly human in ourselves and with the rest of the world.

I conclude with two graffiti from May 68 Paris. ‘Sous Les pavé, la plage’, (Beneath the cobbles the beach). And most important for me and my life, 'La lutte continue' (the struggle continues) For Triesman it was just the loot.

www.davidwilson.org.uk