“Bankruptcy staved off for another week” – my favourite divorce lawyer, one Saturday morning in Soho.

“Bankruptcy staved off for another week” – my favourite divorce lawyer, one Saturday morning in Soho.

Did I tell you I’m writing my autobiography?

It’s full of stuff I didn’t dare mention in my marketing books.

I hope you’ll find it interesting – but for all I know it would bore you to death 

Especially because some of it may be a pack of lies …

… because I was roaring drunk most days for about 37 years so my memory is fallible.

But I’m going to try and cram in all the stories you might find interesting – because my life has been somewhat bizarre, and my time in the marketing industry sometimes even more bizarre. 

The quote at the top of this blog is from my second oldest friend, Jeffrey, a distinguished lawyer. 

Jeffrey used to introduce himself as:

“Hi I’m Jeffrey Freeman, I do all Drayton’s divorces.”

This turned out to be untrue because he didn’t do the last one, which cost a million or two – but before that he saved me a pretty penny in alimony. 

In the ‘70’s he and I used to go shopping every Saturday morning in Soho.

(That’s the original. 17^th century Soho, not the one in New York).

In those days I lived in a penthouse at 139 Harley Street, where I paid the rent under a false name. 

Yes, a false name.

That’s because I went broke in 1970 owing so much money to the taxman that the only way to escape his clutches was to vanish. 

I took the name of my second wife’s first husband. So I was known for 7 years as David D McMahon. I even had a bank account in that name.. 

I always remember our trips to Soho, both stony broke and I always remember one day asking ‘How are things?’ to which he replied, ‘Bankruptcy staved off for another week.’

He finally because very successful, acting for instance for Bianca Jagger. He told me stories about his life as a divorce lawyer, about the kind of people who when it came to the dividing  the spoils was who was going to get the family dog. 

He also told me a story more recently about the way the law has changed. 

Nowadays like everything else in life it is hedged about with all sorts of things designed to make sure no one does anything wrong and everyone is covered against misbehaviour – no matter how minor. In fact it’s boring. 

He told me about the rather more vigorous approach when he began, quoting a letter from one lawyer to another. 

“Dear so-and-so, 

Kindly read the P.S.

Your sincerely

P.S. Fuck off”

If tales like that interest you I’ll tell you more of my legal tangles and what it takes to live under a false name … Plus all the rather bizarre things I did to make a living, including selling face Chagal paintings (unsuccessfully) in Australia. 

One thing will emerge from this – I wasn’t very good at any of them. 

But I still survived, and later – miraculously – went on to do rather well. 

I hope you enjoyed this little story. There will be more. 

More to the point I hope you enjoy them so much you’ll want to buy the book. 

If by any chance you have bought any of my previous books about marketing there’s a lot about that too – stuff I haven’t covered before. 

But I don’t want to bore you. So if that interested you, find out out more here about “You did WHAT?”.

It tells lots of stories, some about advertising. Most about things I didn’t mention – or dare to -in my other books. Like the stabbings, the lady of the night who corrupted me- and  more

If you sign up at the bottom of the landing page you could get a discount when it comes out – just before Christmas.

Best,

Drayton