A review by David Widgery in the New Statesman of Val Wilmer's memoir, 'Mama said There'd Be Days Like This,' published 1989 by the Women's Press, is headed 'Resolute in Crimplene', adn is accompanied by a large 1965 photo of Val with musicians Vic Dickinson and Big Joe Turner. It discusses how her journalism career began in her Streatham childhood's enthusiasm for jazz and self-taught photography, her 'fantastic determination' being clear at an early age. The anti-racist political dimension to her musical enthusiasm deepened in New York, her travels in America and Africa (chronicled in her 1977 book, 'As Serious as Your Life,' and her coming out.
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