I just received an email update from Rita, including some news about
her autobiography. She says,

"The ghostwriter did not work out so we are looking for someone else,
she wrote 6 pages and it did not capture me at all, it was very flat
and without humour. She was very nice but not right for me. I have
been doing some writing myself as an example of how I would like it
to be."

Rita also addressed the question of her birth date. She was born on
14 March 1942, but this has been widely mis-reported as 1940,
particularly by the IMDB (Internet Movie Database). I have tried on
several occasions to get them to change this info, but they
stubbornly refuse. I asked Rita about the birth dates of her
brothers, thinking that perhaps one of her brothers might have been
born in 1940, thereby making it medically impossible for Rita to have
also been born that year. She says,

"My brother Peter was born 02 June 1935. I had a sister Olive who was
born 10 August 1938 but sadly died at age six months. My brother
Colin was born on 22 April 1940, so obviously my brother's birth was
a phenomenon, a miracle, an unexpected event, especially if - as
people insist - I was born on the 14th of March 1940!"

"It's frustrating that people do not believe my birth date. I have
had a similar problem here and they refuse to change it. I have never
been shy of admitting my age; if I was going to change the date I
think I would knock off more than two years! My correct date of birth
appears in 'Who's Who', one of the most prestigious books of
reference, and more importantly in my Passport."

"I wonder if people will try and scratch out the date of birth on my
tombstone to correct the error that has, in their opinion, been made?"

"I am off to Brighton on Friday for some fresh sea air.
Love, Rita"