James Herriot - and the increasingly important matter of "the man behind the books"

Another huge Herriot success, indeed his best-selling book; which led to scores of copycat volumes of 

Fill in the celebrity name's someplace-or-another. 

James Herriot was an extremely popular author of the 1970s. He was a vet who wrote humourous books about his life ministering to farm animals and pets in Yorkshire. 

The books were known by everybody, from age about ten years onwards, and led to a tremendous growth in the demand for vet qualifications (to the point that now vets are paid less than school teachers), and a significant expansion in tourism in the Yorkshire Dales, where the fictional tales were set. 

The books were also adapted (and quite faithfully!) into two movies, and a Sunday evening TV series "All Creatures Great and Small" which was probably the most popular and beloved British family drama of all time.  

As well as their many laughs, skillful writing, and fascinating subject matter; one of the pleasures of reading James Herriot is the likeability and goodness of the actual man behind the books - whose name was Alf Wight.

As well as the evidence of the books themselves; my evaluation of JH's character came from the biography by his son, and a visit to the The World of James Herriot - museum in Thirsk, built in the real-life practice (actually serving the North York Moors, much more than the Yorkshire Dales).  

I have found that, as I get older, my inference as to the ultimate personal quality of an author has become ever more important an element in my reading. 

When I believe that an author is "a good chap" (or "chapess") then I am much more likely to enjoy and re-read; and when I beleive the opposite, I am increasingly unwilling to read, and likely to discard the volume into the rubbish bin.  

In other words, I am less and less inclined to try and separate the author and the work - at the ultimate level. 

This does not mean I expect a "good" author to have only what I regard as "good" opinions and behaviours; but it does mean that I choose to read those who I regard as deep down and primarily "on the right side". 

And that I am less and less inclined to enjoy and seek wisdom from those who are, at bottom, against God, Divine Creation, The Good etc - even when such people may have considerable skill and surface appeal. 

This has led to a good deal of re-evaluation and rejection, and a greater concentration upon relatively fewer individual writers.

It's not that I avoid Bad authors entirely - after all I continue to explore...

But once it has become clear that the character and intent behind the work is malign, I tend to quit swiftly; and move-onto something else more wholesome! 

Note added: I suppose it should be clarified that the most important aspect of "the man behind the books" is the author's "state of mind" at the time of writing - because this may change subsequently, for better or for worse. For example JK Rowling seems to have been a different and better person at the time she wrote the Harry Potter series, than she has been subsequently. Another possibility, which I will do no more than mention, is that an author subsequently died; and (intuitively) post-mortally seems to have become a resurrected Heavenly denizen - and that some kind of contact with the author's current self happens via the process of reading.