£1000 Challenge to Sir Sean!
26 Aug 2008
We have challenged Sir Sean Connery to put his money where his mouth is after criticising The Real Mary King's Close in his new book, Being a Scot.
The book, which covers Sir Sean's early life in Edinburgh as well as his current impressions of the city, was co-written by author Murray Grigor and includes a segment in which he raises concerns about the growth of 'dark tourism' in the Capital.
In it, he wrote of The Real Mary King's Close: "When what became the City Chambers were built in the 18th century, the closes were all levelled off and sealed from above, leaving shops and rooms below intact. The public is now able to visit this subterranean part of the city. But instead of being able to appreciate how people then lived, they have to go along with a Disneyfied haunted-house experience."
In response we have invited him to visit us and have laid down a challenge - we have promised to pay out £1000 to a charity of his choice if he is still unimpressed with what we offer visitors.
The book, which covers Sir Sean's early life in Edinburgh as well as his current impressions of the city, was co-written by author Murray Grigor and includes a segment in which he raises concerns about the growth of 'dark tourism' in the Capital.
In it, he wrote of The Real Mary King's Close: "When what became the City Chambers were built in the 18th century, the closes were all levelled off and sealed from above, leaving shops and rooms below intact. The public is now able to visit this subterranean part of the city. But instead of being able to appreciate how people then lived, they have to go along with a Disneyfied haunted-house experience."
In response we have invited him to visit us and have laid down a challenge - we have promised to pay out £1000 to a charity of his choice if he is still unimpressed with what we offer visitors.
In return we have asked him to agree to pledge the same amount to our nominated charity, the Sick Children's Foundation at the Royal Hospital in Edinburgh, if he does change his mind about us!
A copy of the challenge was personally handed over to Sir Sean shortly before his appearance at the Edinburgh International Book Festival on Monday by General Manager Stephen Spencer and our very own Merchant, Stephen Boyd (played by Alex Sinclair) (pictured right). Sir Sean gave little reaction, however his wife exclaimed 'we challenge you" towards Mr Boyd, whilst First Minister for Scotland Alex Salmond greeted the pair warmly and commented on the publicity we were getting!
Speaking in the Edinburgh Evening News on Saturday Aug 23rd, Stephen said: "We think he must have forgotten the fact that he has made millions out of dramatising fiction, when we are merely dramatising fact.
"We look forward to hopefully welcoming him and revealing a very real history connected to the site's amazing past and perhaps even telling him something different about his beloved home city."
No formal comment has been recieved from Sir Sean....watch this space!
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