Allin, John-Say Goodbye

Say Goodbye: you may never see them again, with Paintings by John Allin and text by Arnold Wesker. ​Scenes from two East-End backgrounds.
In 1974 the authors compared notes about the East End. They lamented the continuing destruction, begun in the Blitz, of one of the most fascinating parts of London, which since this book's first publication has transformed many areas beyond recognition.
But the result of their collaboration was not a book of regrets, it was a book of rememberances, summoned up through their lively conversations and through the solid strokes and refreshing colours of John Allin's paintings, the hot-wash at Hackney Baths on Saturday mornings, jellied eels and the endless swapping - pedal carts for marbles and threepenny bits, cigarette cards for risque books.
They conjured up the war years, the disruption, the excitement which struck a familiar chord with countless others, and this rich and revealing document is now happily reissued. Illus. with lovely colourful, naive paintings by John Allin.