Dirk’s first book, A Postillion Struck by Lightning, is an elegiac account of childhood holidays amidst the enchanting beauty of rural Sussex - of summer days spent fishing with his young sister, hunting for an escaped tortoise and discovering the biggest mushroom in the world. Then there came the plays he and his sister used to put on in the barn, followed by forays onto the stage with the local amateur dramatic society. Finally, just as war broke out, came an audition for a scholarship to the Old Vic . . .