Old Over Night - or in 6 Months (1948)

. . . on my fortieth birthday in 1948 - my entire body went into revolt. My face became blistered with a crimson rash. It irritated so much that the effort not to claw myself to pieces was totally exhausting. As soon as the red marks began to appear the only thing to do was to go home and lie down in the dark - preferably in a draught. After a day or two the redness would begin to subside and the places where it had been to dry and harden into white scales. Within five days the skin on my face had fallen to the ground with a clatter leaving the surface beneath as good as new. Then the whole process would begin again. . . For ever after I could only keep the disfigurement quiescent if I was awash with cortisone and pickled with antihistamine.

During a shaky transition state which lasted for about six months, I passed from doubtful youth to unmistakable middle age.

This was the result in me of entering my blue period. . . The attitude towards me of strangers waned from fear to brutish contempt. Without my scarlet hair I was like a westerner without a gun.

I was growing old.