2004 was flitch year again in Great Dunmow - home of Eye 5 publishing and a fine Essex town. Missed the ceremony this year as I was away. But for those who aren't aware, the flitch is a ceremony dating back to medieval days when a newly-wed couple had to prove before a court of six men and six maidens that they had not exchanged a cross word in the first year and a day of married life. If successful, they were awarded a flitch (side) of bacon.
The custom waned until writer William Harrison Ainsworth visited the area. His book The Flitch of Bacon, which began life in serial form in 1854, revived the custom. Part romance, part mystery - a great read.
The only time I have seen Dunmow mentioned in a best-selling thriller was a few years back in The Negotiator by Frederick Forsyth.
FF mentions Great Dunmow lying west of the M11. Don't go west, young man! Dunmow is, of course, to the east, as those of us who have made that journey too many times well know.

Dunmow Flitch (external link)

I suppose it is easier to excuse a young man getting lost in New York. A legal eagle from the Big Apple informs me that Bob Dylan in his October 2004 biography Chronicles: Volume One errs in the location of Jack Dempsey's restaurant.
The former world heavyweight champ's eating hole was actually opposite Madison Square Garden on Broadway between 49th and 50th streets, not 58th Street as Mr Tambourine Man says on page one.
We hate rumours, but this one from ESPN is intriguing:
"After Jack Dempsey's Restaurant was forced to shut down in 1974, no one ever found out the identity of the landlord who evicted the boxer-turned-restaurateur in favor of a fast-food place. However, persuasive rumors persisted that the building was owned by Great Britain's royal family."