Glen Simmers (AKA Mustapha)
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
Glen Simmers, the man who we know as Mustapha, was born on December 4th 1972 in New Plymouth, New Zealand. While studying Fine Art and Journalism at the Taranaki Polytechnic, a school conveniently located in the town of his nativity, he once attached a quote from Shakespeare’s Tempest to one of the Art Faculty buildings. It said "You taught me language, and my profit on't is I know how to curse." It was quite large, and it formed the image of Shakespeare. It stayed up for nine months. This feat brings great pride to Mr. Simmers, but fortunately he also did his studies. He earned his degree and launched a career as a freelance journalist.
During his days as an art student, he acquired many nicknames. "Mustapha" was the one that stuck. He never knew what it meant until years later, when a Muslim friend of his informed him that it was Arabic for "one who is to be praised." He never bothered to confirm this, and seems to be unaware that he is in fact named after a lion in an animated Disney movie.
Glen Simmers and History
Simmers became interested in history at a very young age. It started when he was about four or five years old, and he received a copy of "Asterix at the Olympic Games", an episode of a popular French comic book series about the adventures of a village of Gauls who resisted the Roman Invasion. He is still a fan of the series, and claims there is a good deal of political commentary encrypted in it.
The parts of history Simmers enjoys studying the most are ancient and prehistory. He is currently working on creating a complete timeline from ancient times to the year AD 1500.
The H2G2 Historical Society
Simmers learned about h2g2 while reading the news on the BBC's website. He clicked on an interview with Douglas Adams, who is a favorite author of his, and he found the link.
The H2G2 Historical Society came into existence out of a discussion about Simmers’ article on the Merovingian Dynasty. People expressed their interest in history, and an informal society began to form. Colonel Sellers came up with the name, and the rest is, well, history.
Simmers is pleased with the interest in history that has been shown on h2g2, but he hopes to see more actual discussion about the external links, as well as more general historical discussion.
Conclusion
Simmers has ambitions in his personal life as well. He hopes to get a steady job, and perhaps go on a tour of ancient Europe and possibly the Middle East. I wish him the best of luck in the future, and I thank him for giving me the information that I paraphrased (read: "butchered") here.
