Writers Bill Clinton Born Bill Blyth in 1946 but changing his name to his step-father's as a boy, former president of the United States, Bill Clinton, was in kinship care as a small child. His mother left her son with her parents in Hope, Arkansas while she went to New Orleans to train as a nurse. Clinton was elected to the position of Attorney General of Arkansas and was in office for two years between 1977 and 1979. He then served as Governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again from 1983 until he resigned in December 1992. Bill Clinton served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 until 2001. Clinton was a published author before he became president and during his time in office, he produced Hope and History (1996). After leaving office he has published 5 books, including his memoir (for which he received an advance of $10m) and 2 thrillers he has co-written with James Patterson. External Website

Blogs/Web Pages/Articles On the Missed Crimean Connection between Leo Tolstoy and Florence Nightingale Literary Hub (Tolstoy) 2024 In this Literary Hub article, Melissa Pritchard https://lithub.com/on-the-missed-crimean-connection-between-leo-tolstoy-and-florence-nightingale/ explores the life of Leo Tolstoy (1828 – 1910) along with that of English founder of nursing, Florence Nightingale (1820-1910). According to Pritchard, both Tolstoy and Nightingale were in the Crimea at the same time during 1854. Pritchard writes: “By the time they return home, Tolstoy to his inherited estate…in 1855, and Nightingale to her father’s summer estate…in 1856, each will be on the threshold of incredible fame.” The two “undisputed giants of the nineteenth century” never met each other. External Website

Sport Babe Ruth Babe Ruth George Herman Ruth or Babe Ruth (1895-1948), was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He was 7 when his parent sent him to live at St Mary’s Industrial School for Boys. George was mentored at St Mary’s by Brother Matthias who encouraged the boy in his love of baseball and in 1914 suggested to the manager of the Baltimore Orioles, Jack Dunn, that he come watch him play. Dunn signed up for season. Then, half way through the season, Dunn sold Babe Ruth – as he was known by then – to the Boston Red Sox. In 1920, Ruth was sold to the New York Yankees for $125,00 and was nicknamed the Sultan of Swat by sports journalists because of his enthusiastic ball hitting. Babe Ruth retired from baseball in 1935, after twenty-two years starring as a professional baseballer. External Website

Autobiography/Memoir The Rale Rasic Story Rale Rasic 2006 Bosnian born Australian soccer player and coach, Rale Rasic* (b. 1935), grew up in an orphanage. Rale Rasic was the second of 4 children born to Stanislava and Ivan Rasic in what was then the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The children were separated, the 2 girls going to different orphanages and his brother, Dragoslav, who was born in 1944, was adopted. Rale stayed in the orphanage until he was 17. He grew up playing soccer, and was drafted into a professional team at the age of 13. At the age of 26, Rale Rasik made the decision to move to Australia, but was not in Melbourne long before he was called home to complete national service. While in the army he completed his university degree in education. Rale returned to Australia in 1966 and 4 years later took up a position as coach of the national soccer team, the Socceroos. He is fondly remembered as the first coach to take the team to the World Cup in 1974 and owns a considerable collection of memorabilia from the event. External Website

Films/Videos Lloyd Kelly shares his foster story 2021 Lloyd Kelly shares his foster care story. Loyd Kelly (b. 1998) Lloyd Casius Kelly is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for and is captain of EFL Championship club AFC Bournemouth. Kelly went into Foster Care when he was 7 years old with his brother and sister. He has said they were lucky as they managed to stay together. External Website

Authors R The Baby Thief: The Untold Story of Geogia Tann, the Baby Seller Who Corrupted Adoption ➝ The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper, the Bestselling True Crime Book ➝ Back to Top

Writers Edward Gibbon (writer) Significant English historian, Edward Gibbon (1737-1794), was in kinship care and foster care as a child. Edward Gibbon was born in Putney, Surrey, the eldest son of Judith Porten and Edward Gibbon. The couple had 6 more children, but all of them died in infancy. The consequences for Edward of his mother’s frequent pregnancies and general disinterest in him was that his aunt, Catherine Porten, was his primary carer. Edward’s formal education was often interrupted by his ill health, but when he was 9 years of age, his father sent Edward to boarding school, which he recalled as being a difficult time. At the end of 1747, Edward was called back home on the death of his mother. His grief-stricken father withdrew from society to a home in Buriton and young Edward lived with his maternal grandfather, James Porten, and his aunt Catherine in Putney for 12 months. After his grandfather lost his money and home, Catherine set up a boarding house for boys attending Westminster School. At first, Edward was the only child living in the boarding house but it gradually became a success. By September of 1750, however, Catherine Porten was obligated to seek different care for Edward who was frequently ill and absent from school. He stayed first with a servant at Bath for some months, and then with a medical professional in Winchester. Eventually Edward recovered sufficiently to live with a Reverend Mr Philip Francis at Esher in Surrey before his father sent him to Oxford University at age 15. In 1753, 16-year-old Edward Gibbon converted to Catholicism. His father’s reaction was one of alarm as being a Roman Catholic would limit his son’s opportunities—he couldn’t become a Member of Parliament, be employed in any public office, and there would have been restrictions on how much of his inheritance he could receive. Edward Senior first sent his son to live with a friend in England but only 3 weeks later, sent him to live with a Calvinist Pastor, Daniel Pavillard, in Lausanne, Switzerland. The boy reconverted to Protestantism 18 months later. Edward Gibbon stayed living with Daniel Pavillard in Lausanne for almost 5 years. He was positively influenced by Pavillard to expand his knowledge and learn French, and he took up an interest in history. Gibbon returned to England as he was about to turn 21 and began on several historical projects, which were interrupted between 1760 and 1762 by his service with the Hampshire militia. It was during a visit to Rome in 1764 that he decided to write a history of that city, and later, of the Roman Empire. After his father died in 1770, Gibbon settled down to the work for which he is best known, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire which covered 13 centuries, beginning in the 2nd century CE and going through until 1453. The first volume was published in February 1776 to resounding success. The 2nd and 3rd volumes were published in 1781, and the final ones in 1788. In 2017, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire was declared by The Guardian as the 83rd of 100 best nonfiction books of all time. It is, writes Robert McCrum, “…a work of universal interest, and timeless influence, unquestionably a a magnificent classic of our literature.” External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience Morvern Callar Alan Warner 1995 Morvern Callar (1995) is the debut novel of Scottish writer Alan Warner. Morvern Callar was in foster care as a child. As a young adult she is working at a supermarket in a small town. She wakes up on Xmas morning to find her boyfriend has killed himself. She takes the manuscript of his unpublished novel and sends it to the publisher recommended in the young man’s suicide note. However, Morvern passes the novel off as her own. External Website

Writers Richard Carlson American journalist & diplomat, Richard Carlson (1941-2025), was in an orphanage and foster care before he was adopted. Richard Anderson was born in Boston to teenage parents who, shortly after his birth, put him into The Home for Little Wanderers, an orphanage in Boston. Florence & Carl Moberger responded to an advertisement & fostered the baby for more than 2 years. In 1943, Richard Anderson was adopted by Warner & Ruth Carlson. Warner Carlson died when Richard was 12 years old. Richard Carlson was 22 when he took up journalism, beginning as a “copy boy” at the Los Angeles Times. He later worked for United Press International & had several other positions including as an investigative reporter for KABC in Los Angeles. Carlson became the director of Voice of America in 1986 and maintained that position until June 1991, after which he became the US ambassador to the Seychelles. In 1992, he headed the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Richard Carlson was the author of a weekly column for several newspapers and the author of several books. Richard Carlson was also the father of conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson. External Website

Writers Pandita Ramabai Sarasvati 1858-1922 Indian writer and social reformer, Pandita Ramabai Sarasvati (1858-1922), was orphaned at the age of 16. Pandita Ramabai Sarasvati was born Ramabai Dongre. Her father was a Sanskrit scholar and home-schooled his daughter in Sanskrit. After she was orphaned, Ramabai and her brother travelled across India reciting Sanskrit scriptures. She went on to become the 1st woman in India to earn the title of pandita (meaning Sanskirt scholar) from the University of Calcutta at the age of 20. Ramabai married in 1880 then after her husband’s death in 1882, she founded the Arya Mahila Samaj, a society of Hindu women promoting the education of girls. She also published her 1st book, Morals for Women. Pandita Ramabai travelled to Britian in 1883 where she converted to Christianity. In 1886, she travelled to the US where she published The High Caste Hindu Woman, widely considered her most important book. In 1888 Pandita Ramabai returned to India and the following year opened an education centre in Chowpatty, an area of Mumbai (then Bombay). During the late 1880s, Pandita Ramabai became involved in housing thousands of child widows, orphans and destitute women at the Pandita Ramabai Mukti Mission https://globalaid.net/2019/11/15/mukti-mission-a-place-to-love-and-be-loved/ External Website

Authors E Cultural, autobiographical and absent memories of orphanhood ➝ Back to Top

Actors Charlie Chaplin (Actor) Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 1889 – 25 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. Chaplin's childhood in London was one of poverty and hardship, as his father was absent and his mother struggled financially, and he was sent to a workhouse twice before the age of nine and spent time in the Hanwell Schools for Orphans and Destitute Children. When he was 14, his mother was committed to a mental asylum. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, "The Tramp", and is considered one of the most important figures in the history of the film industry. His career spanned more than 75 years, from childhood in the Victorian era until a year before his death in 1977, and encompassed both adulation and controversy. The 1940s were a decade marked with controversy for Chaplin, and his popularity declined rapidly. He was accused of communist sympathies, and some members of the press and public found his involvement in a paternity suit, and marriages to much younger women, scandalous. An FBI investigation was opened, and Chaplin was forced to leave the United States and settle in Switzerland. External Website

Academic Articles ‘Yes I’ve got some historic convictions but do the public really need protecting from me?’ The Record 2018 The story describes a teacher who rebuilt her life after a traumatic youth but continues to be held back by historic convictions that never become filtered. To satisfy criminal record disclosure checks (DBS), she has to disclose painful past experiences during background checks, facing stigma and barriers despite posing no risk to the public. External Website

Films/Videos Collateral 2004 Max, a cab driver finds himself the hostage of Vincent, a contract killer as he makes his rounds from hit to hit during one night in Los Angeles. It transpires that Vincent's mother died whilst he was very young. His father was a drunk who beat up Vincent before he ended up in foster care. At one point in the film, Max questions Vincent and uses steretypes: 'What were you? One of those instittionalised guys...the standard part that are supposed to be there in people, in you...arent.' External Website

Writers Keith Saha Keith is Co-Artistic Director of 20 Stories High Theatre Company based in Liverpool. His role within the organisation is as a writer and a director. His plays are for young adult audiences and are often researched with young people on the fringes of society who have important stories to tell. LOOKED AFTER – Keith’s debut screenplay, a drama series about teenagers in today’s care system, is under option to Twelve Town Productions and Sky. After a period of development the 60’ series was adapted into a 10’ short form drama and a non-broadcast pilot was produced. Originally one of Sky’s diverse table reads and a runner-up on the TriForce DramaWriterSlam. BABUL AND THE BLUE BEAR is a story about Benny a young grime artist -his life in and out the care system, looking after his alcoholic mum and being reunited with his Dad - a black comedian who tells self-deprecating racist jokes. His writing is largely informed by his upbringing, and the time he spent in care as a child, fused with the work he creates with and for young people in Liverpool and nationally in similar situations. External Website

Authors N Jack Nicholson ➝ Back to Top

Authors C Jack Maggs ➝ The Mousetrap ➝ Back to Top

Authors B The First Care Experienced Activist? ➝ Volunteers Future Project ➝ Back to Top

Films/Videos Memoir of a Snail 2023 Memoir of a Snail (2024) is an Australian adult stop-motion animated tragi-comedy film. The film tells the sad story of twins who become orphans after their father dies. Grace & Gilbert Pudel are separated and sent to foster homes on different sides of the country. Grace lives in Canberra with the benignly negligent Ian and Narelle, and Gilbert is in Perth with a family of religious fundamentalists. Much of the story centres on Grace who obsessively collects snails. External Website

Authors O James O'Brien ➝ Dawn O'Porter ➝ Barack Obama ➝ Derek Owusu ➝ Back to Top