Alan Bell  

secretary for Bernard Leach from 1975 - 1979, U.K.

My small part at the Art Forum in Bratislava (in 1991) was to share something of the thoughts and the work of the Bahá´í potter Bernard Leach. Working with such a genius was beyond description (I was his secretary from 1975 until his death in 1979).

We corresponded with the British and the Japanese royal families. Entertained visitors from all over this 'global village' of planet earth. On Bernard's behalf I wrote to numberless friends and admirers and helped him to produce voice cassettes and written pieces for exhibitions, and so on.

People came from as far away as Japan to visit him in St Ives. Some made prior arrangements such as journalists but many came 'on spec'. As long as Bernard was in a fit state of health he never turned them away, even though we were busy working on his autobiographical book: "Beyond East & West". The best I can do is to invite you to read what was written about Bernard in 'The Bahá´í World' volume XVIII (1979-1983) pages 669 - 671 and pages 929-931. Both the memoriam and the essay were written by Trudi Scott who worked with Bernard for 15 years and to whom his magnum opus, "Beyond East & West" is dedicated.

Excerpt from a letter in Arts Dialogue, March 1992, page 4