Last Friday a TES reviewer commented that Summer of Hope by Ian Cotton - a book about a Berkshire camp for autistic boys - “almost restores your faith in human nature”. Today we can only conclude that it does the reverse.
We have discovered that the camp’s director, Roy Howgate, who is presented in a favourable light in the book, was last month jailed for 30 months for indecently assaulting three boys in the 1970s. Even more surprisingly, the publishers Simon amp; Schuster confirmed that they pressed ahead with the book’s launch despite knowing that Howgate faced trial on child sex abuse charges.
They defended their decision by saying “we wanted to do what was best for the book, which is essentially about what children are capable of achieving”. But given the nature of Howgate’s crimes that statement seems very lame. Simon amp; Schuster should withdraw this book without further delay.
