Dad was born and bred in Liverpool. He had a touch of the scallywag and was a ‘bit of a smart arse’ as a lad by his own accounts but managed to keep his nose clean enough to become an apprentice toolmaker as a young man. Always an avid reader and comic fan (Dennis the Menace and Rupert the Bear were lifelong favourites) he wrote a few short stories of his own which were published in various magazines. He developed his love of writing and moved to London in the 1960’s where he began to write plays and got his first TV play produced – ‘Wear A Very Big Hat’ directed by Ken Loach and also wrote some episodes of ‘Z-cars’, ‘Softly, Softly’ and a Play for Today – ‘Doran’s Box’.
He continued to write for the rest of his life but for various reasons, sadly, that star had already ascended. I remember the comfort of hearing him tapping away on his typewriter late into the night as a child…
During his National Service he was posted in Africa where he fell in love with Kenya and he returned there a few times afterwards. He loved African elephants and his home was overflowing with elephant ornaments given to him by his 3 daughters and grandchildren. Later in life he travelled to Cuba which was to become almost a second home. He made some of his closest friendships there with a disparate group of other travellers and ex-pats and they formed the ‘Dipso’s Club’ where copious amounts of rum and wild stories were shared.
He was an articulate, irascible, challenging and very funny man with a sense of the absurd. Although he had the gift of the gab he could also be a good listener and often gave me sound advice in my younger years. He could be kind too. One time when I had a painful break up I went to stay with him for a few days. He got me to paint his bathroom in an acrid yellow (which he paid me for). He moved out of that flat 2 days later and I was slightly outraged. I realised later that he had given me something to do instead of moping and he’d got a good laugh out of it too!