Carol; Cliff - The Musical (which closed after three months) and Ricky Nelson...Teenage Idol. Read took one of the lead roles in the Cliff musical, touring with it and appearing for a three-month run in the West End at the Prince of Wales Theatre. His production Betjeman (based on his musical settings of poems by Sir John Betjeman) has occasionally been staged for charities, including the Royal Marsden Hospital and Children With Leukaemia. Actors appearing in his musicals and shows have included Nyree Dawn Porter, Brian Glover, Colin Baker, Anton Rogers, Jeremy Irons, Alvin Stardust and Bernard Cribbins. Books and poetry Read was one of the founder editors of the UK chart reference series Guinness Book of British Hit Singles, and also co-wrote other Guinness music books. Read's poetry books include The Aldermoor Poems, Elizabethan Dragonflies, A Room With Books and the latest, New Poems for Old Paintings. He has edited and supplied biographies for the two best-selling poetry books, 100 Favourite Poems and 100 Favourite Humorous Poems, and contributed to many of the titles in the series Poets' England. He has also written two crime novels. In 1997, he published Forever England: The Life of Rupert Brooke. Contemporary art In October 2007, Read started to produce contemporary art, with a gallery of works in the medium of confectionery entitled Choc Art. The work includes recreations of album sleeves by the Beatles, his own take on the famous map of the London Underground, and works based on the paintings of L.S. Lowry. Personal life and ventures Stalker Read had a stalker who had changed her name to Blue Tulip Rose Read and believed that she was married to him. Rose was from Welwyn Garden City and her original name was Carol Ballard. She was featured in a 1996 film made by Jaine Green for Channel 4, entitled I'm Your Number One Fan. The film formed part of Channel 4's "Fame Factor" season, which examined the dark side of fame. Rose was one of the most candid interviewees in the film. She was filmed as she travelled to the offices of Classic FM, and as she wrote "love letters" to Read. The film stated that Rose had been writing obscene and threatening letters to Read for many years. Politics Having spoken three times at Conservative Party conferences, including entertaining guests at a Tory conference dinner in 2006 with a ten-minute political