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Bon Journal

Luncheon speaker at the Savoy

It was a grand event. The leaders of the petroleum industry gathered at the Institute of Petroleum awards luncheon in the Savoy. The speaker was Trevor Baylis, OBE, the inventor of the freeplay wind-up radio.

So many of us have had great ideas and did nothing about them. Were we lazy or just fearful of rejection?

Mr Baylis said that inventors have big egos. "We have talent to create new ideas but not taught how to bring it to fruition." Nobody taught us about intellectual property, for example. And is that why many inventors die in poverty?

He said, "I don't mind anybody looking down on me as long as they don't expect me to look up."

Aren't composers, writers, and artists also inventors? And so I ask myself, why haven't I published my compositions? Because I need to improve them. Why haven't I improved them? Because I don't have the time. Why haven't I got the time? Because I've been working. And why am I not working in music?

22 November 2001 Thursday