In the last decade of her life, Val Martin, a former assistant warden of William Goodenough House and the college librarian, set out to write a history of Goodenough College. She collated a wealth of material and left behind an 80,000-word manuscript when she died in 2007.
Her work has served as a foundation and a resource for this book about the College, which has been written by a team of Goodenough writers, with contributions from staff, members and alumni from around the world and from several generations. Miss Martin’s lively, engaging style, eye for detail
and fondness for anecdotes also inspired us to write this book in the same vein. Her manuscript begins with a chapter entitled ‘Diary of a Day in the 21st Century’. It is too long for inclusion in this book, but an excerpt appears on page 12.
Just as Val Martin was moved to document life at Goodenough College, we who have had the good fortune to be members of this unique institution have now had the chance to contribute our own recollections. This book has also been an opportunity for us to express our gratitude and appreciation for the time we spent at Mecklenburgh Square. The alumni reminiscences form a large part of the story that this book tells.
