Greg. There is as you say a host of others. One case that particularly sticks in my throat is that of Yip Harburg, the lyricist who wrote Buddy Can You Spare a Dime, and went on to produce the lyrics of The Wizard of Oz, before disappearing into obscurity.

Why did he disappear into obscurity? Well, Yarburg, who wasn't even a Communist - more of a left wing liberal - was named as a Red by the HUAC in 1950. As a result he was blacklisted by the entire entertainment industry and didn't work again until 1962.

The one grain of satisfaction I ever got from this was in singing Ding Dong The Witch is Dead (from The Wizard of Oz), whilst Margaret Thatcher 's effigy went up in smoke on the St George's Plateau in Liverpool.

That's one conflagration old Yip would surely have approved of.