| C O M M U N I T Y | 1993 seems a lifetime ago. But that was the year in which I took a message from my literary agent, Doreen Montgomery, inviting me to her office in London. She had received a telephone call from a Michael Barrett in Liverpool, who claimed to have found the diary of Jack the Ripper and wanted to bring it to show her. That meeting was to launch me overnight into a world about which none of us had absolutely any previous knowledge, peopled with scientists, historians and international experts in criminology. My own previous books had included a history of the English Channel, an investigation into the world of religious cults and a biography of Father Christmas. This was very unfamiliar ground. Mike Barrett told us how he had acquired the book from a mate in Liverpool who had recently died and now he wanted to get it published. The diary itself was about 1”thick with a hard cover. Each page was filled with the demented outpourings of a madman. The writing veered wildly from neat, to the sprawling bloodthirsty confessions of a callous killer. Was this indeed the work of the man whose murderous rampage in Whitechapel in 1888 became an international horror story? It was signed“Yours truly Jack the Ripper.” There was no mention anywhere of“Jack the Ripper’s” real identity. The only clue was a statement on page two of the diary -“tonight I shall return to Battlecrease”. What was Battlecrease and where was it? Neither Doreen nor I had ever been confronted by such a challenge. It was to overtake my life for the next 25 years! The first step of course was to find a publisher willing to gamble on a very uncertain project. That publisher proved to be Robert Smith, then of Smith Gryphon and I found myself – a novice – launched into the world of experts in criminology, handwriting, ink, and, of course legions of international and mostly hostile Ripper historians. At the time I had absolutely no idea how passionate was the world I was about to enter. I was faced with deep scepticism from many. But there were a few who, like me, were fascinated - especially once ink and handwriting tests eventually proved that the book The Ripper Living with Living with Doreen Montgomery (Rupert Crew Limited), Shirley’s Agent, who took the call from Michael Barrett claiming to have discovered the original manuscript Shirley Harrison (right) author (right) author of The Diary of Jack the Ripper with friend and researcher Sally Evemy on the trail of Jack the Ripper The shadow of Britain’s most notorious serial killer continues to chill the public spine by shirley harrison by shirley harrison jack 24 THE RIVER MAGAZINE | Autumn 2017 the sprawling bloodthirsty confessions of The first step of course was to find a publisher willing to gamble on a very uncertain project. That publisher proved to be Robert Smith, then of Smith Gryphon and I found myself – a novice – launched into the world of experts in criminology, handwriting, ink, and, of course legions of international and mostly hostile Rip Doreen Montgomery | C u l tu r e |