Desmond Leslie - First And Last And Always
From Flying Saucer News, Summer 1953:
ANOTHER FLYING SAUCER BOOK
An Author by the name of DESMOND LESLIE has been responsible for some rather startling letters to the press recently. We quote here, from his letters printed in "THE OBSERVER" and the "BRISTOL EVENING POST": -
"I have been engaged for the last two years solely with the investigation of flying saucers, and I now feel in a position to make a statement. After studying over two thousand sightings in this century, and several hundred historic reports, plus a few score of ancient Sanskrit books, we feel that it is safe to say that:
1. Saucers are mostly interplanetary, originating from both within and without the solar system.
2. It seems there was never a time in our time in our planet's long history when it was not visited, or passed in transit, by spacecraft of some description.
3. A recent translation of some old Sanskrit books leads us to believe that at one time a simple form of flying saucer was actually built on Earth; and that interplanetary communion was known and practised by that great civilisation which perished in the catastrophe of circa 9460 B.C.
".....Several years ago, a special observatory was set up by private funds, in America, with the express purpose of solving the problem and obtaining convincing photographs, one way or the other to prove or disprove the existence of extra-terrestrial flying saucers. After hundreds of attempts, a dozen telescopic photographs were taken, showing in great detail not one, but three distinct types of space craft which in their construction and conception, differ from anything that might ever have been built on Earth.
"VERY RECENTLY, ONE OF THE SMALLER TYPE OF SAUCERS LANDED, AND ITS OCCUPANT ALLOWED HIMSELF TO BE SEEN BY A MIXED GATHERING OF ORDINARY TERRESTRIAL MEN AND WOMEN, WHOSE SWORN AFFIDAVITS AND FULL REPORTS AS TO THE TRUTH OF THEIR EXPERIENCE I NOW HAVE IN MY SAFEKEEPING.
"We are like a small desert island; we think we are everything, until
one day great ocean liners are seen passing by. We chase them in our pathetic
little coracles and are peeved when they outpace us. Then, one day, a little
pinnacle puts in to shore, and some of our natives see a 'white man' for the
first time. No wonder the local witch doctors say it is all 'illusion'. Too
many of them will be out of jobs when the truth is known".
((END OF QUOTE)).
We learn from Mr.Charles Davy, Assistant Editor of THE OBSERVER, that Desmond Leslie's book (not yet titled, as far as we know) is to be published by Messrs.Werner Laurie & Co., London - probably in the Autumn. Such a book will be interesting, to say the very least - and here is what Mr.Davy has to say about some of the PHOTOGRAPHS it will contain ('Observer', 3/5/53):-
"I have recently seen some photographs purporting to be of a saucer which landed not long ago in California. The object photographed is a solid, dome-shaped, metallic structure - certainly not an atmospheric illusion of any kind. Clearly, this is either a very startling story or a thoroughgoing and skilful hoax. The odds are obviously in favour of a hoax, but there seem to be no deadsure grounds for a final verdict either way at present...."
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Desmond Leslie obituary, from The Irish Times, March 3rd, 2001:
Author and eccentric who had a great interest in spiritualism
THE HON Desmond Leslie, who died on February
24th aged 79, could rightly have claimed many titles. He was variously an
RAF pilot, author, composer, film-maker, nightclub director, estate manager
and spiritualist, while he also fostered a reputation as an eccentric.
Throughout his life he was a pioneer of the unusual. One of the first proponents
of flying saucers and UFOs, he co-wrote with George Adamaski [should
be 'Adamski'] the bestselling Flying saucers Have Landed which was
translated into more than 50 languages. He jumped into electronic music at
its earliest stages and set 12 of Shakespeare's plays to music.
He was among the first of the Anglo-Irish big house families to try and turn
the family estate into a viable business and as part of that venture introduced
a then racy notion - a nightclub in rural Monaghan, Annabel's on the Bog,
which he modelled on the more famous Annabel's of London. An idea before its
time, circumstances and clerical displeasure resulted in its closure.
In his writing career he followed in the footsteps of his father, Sir Shane
Leslie, a poet and biographer, and of his older sister, novelist Anita Leslie.
Born Desmond Arthur Peter Leslie, on June 29th, 1921, he was brought up at
Castle Leslie, Glaslough, Co Monaghan, part of an old and well-connected Anglo-Irish
aristocratic family. The Leslie estate had originally been granted to Bishop
John Leslie in the 17th century by King Charles II.
His father, Sir Shane, was a first cousin of Winston Churchill. Sir Shane
converted to Catholicism, learnt Irish and stood twice as a candidate for
the Irish Nationalist Party in Derry. His mother's (Lady Marjorie) father,
Henry Ide, was a governor general of the Philippines and American ambassador
to Spain.
Desmond Leslie was the youngest of three children. The novelist Anita (Anne
Theodosia Moira) was the eldest, born in 1914, while John Norman Ide was born
in 1916 and succeeded their father as baronet, to become Sir John.
Desmond Leslie was educated at Ampleforth College and spent a year at Trinity
College Dublin. he was an RAF fighter pilot from 1942 to 1945.
During that time he wrote his first novel, Careless Lovers, which was
a wartime bestseller. He also met his first wife, German-born actress and
singer, the late Agnes Bernelle, whom he married in August 1945.
In that year he also became involved in film production and made a film in
Ireland, Stranger at My Door. Although his films were not commercial
or mainstream successes, he spoke presciently of the potential of a proper
film industry in Ireland and the benefits of appropriate tax designation.
In 1949, he co-directed Another Shore in which his wife starred.
The couple lived in London until 1963 during which time Desmond Leslie devloped
an interest in electronic music - a number of his scores were used in BBC
productions.
In 1963, he famously punched the BBC's drama critic, Bernard Levin, in front
of an audience of millions, on the television programme That Was The Week
That Was. the critic had given a bad review to Agnes Bernelle's one-woman
show From Brecht to Brecht, Cabarets of Savagery and Delight, which
she had previously presented at the Dublin Theatre Festival.
The Leslies moved back to Castle Leslie in 1963 and during their 24-year marriage,
which ended in 1969, they had three children: two sons, Mark and Sean, and
a daughter Wendyl. Desmond Leslie also had a relationship with Jennifer Fibbs
and they had a daughter, Antonia.
During this time his writing continued apace and included the spoof, Space
Race, co-authored with his friend the astronomer Patrick Moore.
Other works included Pardon My Return, Angels Weep, Hold
Back the Night, The Amazing Mr Lutterworth, Suzy Saucer and
Ronnie Rocket and The Jesus File in which he turned the trial of
Jesus Christ into a modern courtroom drama. When he moved back to castle Leslie
in the 1960s he established the nightclub, and an equestrian centre, which
was eventually sold on.
After his marriage to Agnes Bernelle ended, he married Helen Strong and the
couple had two daughters, Samantha and Camilla.
He developed a great interest in spiritualism and in an interview in 1980
reported that he spent "an hour every Monday night making mental contact
through meditation with members of a Spiritual Healing Group scattered around
the world".
This fuelled his reputation as an eccentric, which he fostered. A guidebook
once referred to the Leslie family as "mildly eccentric", which
prompted him to write to the publishers to point out that the family was "very
eccentric". A witty letter-writer who loathed officialdom, he engaged
in lengthy correspondence with State agencies, which suffered the wrath of
his penmanship.
He and his second wife retired to St Jeannet, in the south of France, in the
late 1980s where he continued writing. His daughter Samantha took over the
running of the family estate with her husband, Ultan Bannon. An unfinished
novel, Pandora, about the women in his life is expected to be completed
by his daughter Camilla.
Desmond Leslie is survived by his second wife Helen Strong, his six children,
Mark, Sean, Wendyl, Antonia, Samantha and Camilla and his brother, Sir John
Leslie.
The Hon Desmond Leslie: born 1921; died, February 2001.
