The Port of Sóller Radio Programme - Jackie Waldren: a remarkable life

Jackie Brown arrived in Deia on Mallorca’s north coast in 1959 and, on her first night in the village, met artist – later eminent archaeologist – Bill Waldren. A few months later, Jackie married Bill and they lived in Deia and Palma on and off for many years. Jackie has now returned to Deia and she gave Shirley Roberts a candid interview about her extraordinarily full life. Over the years, Jackie, Bill and their four daughters, survived considerable adversity – not least of which being their always precarious financial circumstances – but this is not merely a tale of tenacity, this is a story of survival in a bygone age and a vivid portrait of a unique and celebrated village undergoing profound changes. Added to that, what begins as social history becomes a chronicle of the interactions of a number of leading writers, artists, musicians and scientists of the twentieth century, whose paths crossed because of their connections to Deia and to the Waldrens. Luke Rhinehart, Desmond Morris, Robert Graves, Richard Branson and the origins of EarthWatch – all of these and many more play a part in Jackie’s life and she in theirs. This interview is why radio and podcasting were invented. To hear more of Shirley Roberts’ wonderful interviews, go to our ‘Listen again’ page or visit www.SollerWeb.com