HOW IT BEGAN

Reading began for me when I was around 9 or 10 years old.
I was recovering from an annual dose of bronchitis, which laid me out every year.
(In fact my mother always used it as an excuse for my lack of academic success in my later school days – bless her, isn’t it lovely how their our parents can find excuses for anything?)
Anyway, enough of that.
During my recovery my parents decided that it was time reading should no longer be a chore but a method of relaxation and enjoyment. As a result they asked my older brother, John, to try and encourage me by proffering his copy of ‘William the Conqueror’ by Richmal Crompton.
It took everyone by surprise; since I couldn’t put the book down and requested further adventures of ‘Just William’ (You may notice that this ‘William’ was not the ‘1066 William’ but the rebellious boy upon whom many 10 year-old boys would model themselves).

From that point onwards I never stopped reading for pleasure. It made no difference to my academic success however; for that was not down to bronchitis, nor being late in finding books for pleasure, but simply due to sheer idleness.

However now approaching my 70th Birthday, I read more than ever and predominantly books which have been written for children. I find myself being a happy collector of books for two reasons. Firstly I love a good story and something which has been decently illustrated (if it applies to that book), and which I can exhibit on bookshelves with other books of that genre. Nothing please me more than a book case of hardbound, dust-covered children’s books from the 1940s to the 1960s, displaying their superbly illustrated spines.

I dabbled with creating my own story on several occasions.
Once whilst studying at Art College, and again about 15 years ago with a story aimed at 12-year old young people. Neither really inspired me enough to pursue.

Avril, my wife, & I began breeding pedigree Burmilla cats in around 1995, and it wasn’t long before I began turning my attention to an illustrated book of some of our own cats.
During this period Avril & I became very friendly with Lesley Anne Ivory, famed for her wonderful feline paintings and books. Her influence was very significant as I began my alphabet of cats.
The ‘Alphabetacats’ were born. We had bred so many that I had enough subjects for the whole alphabet – each litter of kittens had names beginning with a different letter of the alphabet.
I illustrated it with pictures of a cat surrounded by objects which began with that particular letter of the Alphabet. The result was not displeasing but it had no specific market. I did have it printed in a limited quantity for friends and family.
Things were looking increasingly bleak for this ‘yearning author/illustrator’.
I will relate the Alphabetabears story next time.

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