Dennis Taylor defends George Formby and the Formby family against suggestions that George Formby was not all he should be when the book “A Troubled Genius” was released in 1999. In 1999 when the David Bret book on George Formby, “A Troubled Genius” was due for release, headline hitting snippets were put out to national newspapers claiming that George Formby was a drug addict, a gay icon and other scurrilous suggestions. Mr Bret was quoted in one interview as saying, "As a biographer, I don't omit anything unless it's libellous, and as most of my subjects are dead..." (you can read the full interview at this link), perhaps that statement suggests something about Mr Bret's style of writing. Dennis did assist the author in the production of the book but was completely unaware of the more 'alarming' suggestions that Mr Bret presented in the final print. The book itself is most certainly worth reading, you just have to question some of the allegations that Mr Bret makes. I have never heard of any associations between Beryl Formby and other men or of George Formby and other women apart from Pat Howson and that happened after Beryl's death. In this day and age, who cares who is a "gay icon"? Why, was that even suggested as headline news? Whatever iconic status George enjoyed, was surely down to the listening and theatre/cinema going public and hardly something that the star himself could be held responsible for. Of course, suggestions such as these after being seen in all the popular newspapers of the day will obviously help to sell the book. I feel sure that most George Formby fans will have a copy of the book. It was good enough to be on any Formby bookshelf without any of the daft suggestions or romanticisms. Sadly Dennis passed away in 2011 but is still revered as the greatest President in GFS history. He did more than any other to keep George Formby’s name and reputation intact and worked so hard to make sure that the Society would prosper for many years to come. I take the greatest pleasure in presenting this page as a tribute to Dennis. Along with many others, I was proud to call him a great friend and happy to work alongside him to do anything that might benefit The George Formby Society. Peter Pollard - December 2022

A TROUBLED GENIUS