Q: About your relation with Douglas, I understand he was your half brother, no?
JT: The Adams/Thrift family is a somewhat complex beast, Douglas and I are half brothers, we share the same mother, but had different fathers.

Q: There were 16 years between him and you; was he still an older brother like any older brother, or was the age difference too big?
JT: True it is quite a large age gap for siblings, especially when I was very young, but as I grew older the gap became less significant. I can’t think of any thing worse than at the age of 16 to acquire a noisy smelly baby brother, by all accounts Douglas coped with it all rather admirably, well that and leaving home.

Q: You were around 10 when the radio show aired and round 13 when the books came out; how did his success effect you and the other family members?
JT: Awfully, it allowed Douglas to buy a Porsche and terrify us all.

Q: There are rumours about you selling his autograph by the dozen at school...
JT: By the many dozen!  I had persuaded Douglas one Sunday to sign his name in columns all over large pieces of paper. It was at the time when his publishers were getting him to do much the same thing, and I had noted that whilst the first few examples were pretty good, by about number 100 it was a bit of a meaningless scrawl, and that perhaps he could do with the practice. Needless to say I ran back to school and sold them all at 10p a go.

Q: Another rumour involves your school days and a large cardboard commercial photo of your mother...
JT: Many moons ago the publishers decided to create an in store display to promote one of the books, I can’t remember which one it was, but the plan was to have a picture of mum holding a tray with the slogan “Have tea with Douglas’ mum.” They were used all over the world, and one ended up in my room  at college. We used to dress it up in coats and scarves and leave it propped by the front door to deter thieves, but for the most part she sat on a shelf overlooking my bed, unless of course I was entertaining the ladies, when she was put in the wardrobe. Very off putting having your mother watching! I bought one recently on ebay for my sister, it is strange to read a complete stranger reporting that your mother is in good condition if a little creased and can be shipped anywhere in the UK for £2.50.

Q: Did you have a hard time convincing your friends back then that you were actually his brother?
JT: My height was always a little hard to explain (I am not quite approaching anywhere in the vague vicinity of 6ft 5), but one look at the nose and there is no question of it.

Q: Later on, did he visit you often, were you close?
JT: We have always been a close family, even though geographically we were often far apart, time together was always important. We survived on quality, if not quantity.

Q: How did he come about to become friends with the Pink Floyd bunch? What's the story there?
JT: Do you know, I haven’t a clue. I think the initial link was with Nick Mason, but Douglas and Dave became very close. Douglas was in the enviable position of being able to meet a lot of his heroes, many of whom became his very good friends.

Q: Did you visit the family after they had moved to California?
JT: No.


Q: How did his infamous writers block affect his family? Did he go berzerk or was he more of a locking-himself-in sort of man?
JT: Writers block has no adverse symptoms, by the very fact that to be suffering from writers block means you have discovered an altogether more pleasurable occupation for your time than having to write. Cold turkey from writers block on the other hand, when you have 3 weeks to finish an unstarted novel, is not pleasant to experience. Douglas rarely found the need to lock himself away, his publishers usually organised that for him. No I wouldn’t say he went berserk, tended to growl and say “fuck” quite a bit.

Q: Now, let us in on some of the juicy stuff I'm sure he told you about. Groupies, VIP lines, stalking and that sort of thing.
JT: I am reliably informed that Douglas was never a groupie, would never condescend to queue in a VIP line, and anyway that stalking thing was never proved. He was in the enviable position of being rich and famous but not recognised.

Q: How did you hear about his passing?
JT: At 11pm, working late in one of our shops. My sister Jane called.  We then spent much of the rest of the night trying desperately to contact the rest of the family before it was released to the worlds media the following morning.

Q: Care to share one or two anecdotes that are not commonly known among the fan community?
JT: I would love to, but some of those involved are sadly still with us.

Q: Finally a question that is close to the heart of the entire fan community: How is everyone doing now; Jane, Polly, Janet, little Jane, Susan, yourself?
JT: Everyone’s doing fine. Polly is growing up at a startling pace, and is gorgeous.

Quick Douglas Trivia Questions:

Q: Douglas favourite food? 
JT: Sushi

Q: His favourite whisky? 
JT: Can’t say I ever saw him drink the stuff.

Q: Favourite sport?
JT: Tiddlywinks, but only after the 1983 variation to the offside rule following the Brazilian scandal.

Q: Favourite film?
JT: They didn’t make it in time...