Last night over dinner I was talking about sources I used in writing Beyond the Chariots, which we're about to take to Paris and beyond for the centennial of Eric Liddell's victory there. Then a few hours later I posted more details on social media, so I thought I’d share some more here:

I read all the biographies I knew about at the time and finished the first draft in 2004. I relied most heavily on: Eric Liddell: Pure Gold by David McCasland, who saw the play and helped me get it to the next level. My favorite book covering life in the internment camp was A Boy’s War by David Michell, who also saw the play and inspired some brush strokes. You’ll hear his name in the play if you’re listening closely. The first biography I read — now out of print — was by the man who first asked Eric Liddell to speak publicly, D.P. Thomas. 

I also did interviews with Liddell’s three daughters, one of his students, and others who remember him, including two great grandchildren of Hudson Taylor. After James Hudson Taylor III saw it, he walked up to me, and his first words reflected life in the internment camp with "Uncle Eric": "We played softball. There wasn't enough room for baseball." Then "Jamie" invited us to his home in Hong Kong where he shared for hours. 

The research began in 2000, when Liddell’s niece, Peggy Judge, gave us a tour of the Eric Liddell Centre in Edinburgh. We’ll be performing across the street twice on July 11, the 100th anniversary of Liddell’s world record in the 400m at the 1924 Paris Olympics.

Tomorrow we leave for Northern Ireland, where I’ll perform Beyond the Chariots, Joyce will advance Spanish translation slides and on the closing night portray Jeanine Brabon in an excerpt from Song’s of Revival: Hungry After God Himself, and we’ll co-lead a workshop introducing bibliodrama and enacted prayer.