On this day 15 years ago we celebrated Forest’s 30th anniversary with a party at Boisdale of Belgravia.
In addition to that milestone the event also marked the publication of a new book, Velvet Glove, Iron Fist: A History of Anti-smoking, by a young writer called Christopher Snowdon who signed copies and gave a short speech.
Guests, as I wrote here, included actress Lorraine Chase who starred in Emmerdale but is arguably best known for appearing in a series of Campari ads when she was a model in the Seventies.
I think she was the friend of a guest but she clearly supported the cause. Interviewed for the official video of the event, she gave us this soundbite:
“We have a choice. I’m not an idiot. I can think for myself, and the more you take my thinking away from me, that’s dangerous. That’s dangerous.”
The video below, however, was shot and edited by Peter Snowdon, Chris’s father, who also filmed his son’s speech.
As it happens, a few weeks before Velvet Glove Iron Fist was published I wrote:
I can't speak highly enough of this extraordinary labour of love. I've read many books on smoking and this is the best by far. It's a superb read. To use that old cliche, it's a page-turner, which is some achievement. It's packed with information but it's also very readable - serious yet hugely entertaining.
Better still, this is no fire-breathing polemic. The amount of research that has gone into it is staggering. And the tone is moderate throughout which is important because it will appeal to a far wider readership.
Fifteen years on the history of anti-smoking now includes display bans, plain packaging and, most recently, the threat of a generational tobacco sales ban.
Time perhaps for a new, updated, edition?