The Gilded Gutter Life of Francis Bacon

Daniel Farson

The son of the legendary American foreign correspondent, Negley Farson, Daniel became the youngest ever Parliamentary and Lobby Correspondent in the House of Commons aged 17. While working as a photographer for Picture Post, he drifted into Soho and at the age of 23 met Francis Bacon. He 'stumbled' into television in the early days of ITV becoming a leading interviewer with his own series. Then in 1964 on a sudden impulse, Daniel Farson abandoned television and Soho for the house left him by his parents in North Devon - 'in order to find out if I could write'. Subsequent books include his bestseller Jack the Ripper, The Man Who Wrote Dracula, a biography of his great-uncle Bram Stoker; the historical novel Swansdowne on convicts sent to Tasmania; books on Turkey; and several which combine his photographs with his reminicences: Soho in the Fifties; Sacred Monster; Escapades; Limehouse Days; Gilbert & George in Moscow. Daniel Farson died in 1997.