My Sister Phyllis Pearsall Gross
And the Meaning of Truth
Who Really Created the A-Z Atlas of London?
This mini-website is aimed at revealing the vast number of untruths, distortions, and omissions to be found in Sarah Hartley's book Mrs. P's Journey as well as in two books self-published by my sister Phyllis Pearsall Gross (and used uncritically by Hartley as her major source). More importantly, it is aimed at replacing those erroneous accounts with something far closer to the truth.
This is the home page of that website, where you will find listed several other detailed pages dealing with aspects of this formidable project, each one accessible simply by clicking on the first line of one of the following descriptive paragraphs:
The text of the letter sent to the US and UK CEOs of Simon and Schuster on January 3, 2014 concerning the publication of this book and why they should have exercized greater scrutiny before publishing it, followed by their reply and the counter-reply by our family.
For Americans and Others, a Brief Two-Paragraph Summary of this Affair and Why It matters to the Rest of the World.
A relatively brief version of this affair, first written a few years ago to assist the members of a theatre group planning a recently-closed musical based on the life of my sister as portrayed in these books. I suggest you try this page first and then proceed to the other pages, if you want to find out more about my sister Phyllis, our father, and other members of our family.
Creating the Truly Brief, Tweetable Version of this Story.
My Own Personal Account of Our Father Alexander Gross, the true creator of several map companies and of the A-Z Atlas of London, including the company Phyllis would have us believe she founded single-handed.
My Own Personal Account of my Half-Sister Phyllis, describing our close personal relationship over several decades. The Bright and the Dark Phyllis.
What the Map Experts Have to Say: A Description of our father's contribution to cartography by the head of the British Library's Map Division Peter Barber, further discussed in an article by the British journalist Peter Watts and in a wikipedia summary, plus an account of what it's like to walk the streets of a major urban area for the purposes of mapping it.
Selections from Reviews of Hartley's Book in several major British newspapers, followed by online reviews posted on Amazon.
Mrs P's Journey: Biography or "Chick Lit"...? A Discussion of Whether a Major Hoax May or May Not Have Been Perpetrated on the English-Speaking World.
A Tribute to our Cousin Imre Somogy, the French-Hungarian publisher of a truly heroic book and our family's most distinguished member.
A Tribute to our Brother Anthony Gross, the British war artist, engraver, and painter.
A Partial Summary of Definite and Likely Errors to be found in Sarah Hartley's book Mrs. P's Journey.
A Partial Summary of Definite and Likely Errors to be found in my sister's book Fleet Street Tite Street Queer Street (Technical section, read it only if you want to know how the "Urban Myth" developed)
A Partial Summary of Definite and Likely Errors to be found in my sister's book From Bedsitter to Household Name: the Personal Story of A-Z Maps. (Technical section, read it only if you want to know how the "Urban Myth" developed)
My Niece and Nephew Add Their Voices...Mary West Gross and Jean-Pierre Gross Contribute Their Views of Phyllis, the A-Z, and the upcoming musical.
A Page about my Mother Elizabeth Brewer Gross.
Conclusion: Yes, What The TRUTH Really Means...as close as we can possibly come to the realities of the A-Z, my sister's life, and the book purporting to describe her.
And finally two links to my own work:
An overview of my writings over the past five decades.
A webpage about my history of the Sixties in the UK, the US, and Germany.
This website may be unique in one important respect, as in some quarters it is still believed that information found on the web may be suspect or less worthy of belief than what can be found in published books. But quite the opposite is decisively demonstrated here, that information found in books may sometimes be even more suspect and less worthy of belief than what can be found on the web.
(respectfully submitted by Alex Gross)
