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Why I Wrote wot I Wrote
As Joanna Lumley notes in her preface, Bruce Denness has always trod a precarious path between serious science and philosophical frivolity. The science reached its peak at the British Geological Survey and Newcastle University in the 1970s but even then – and certainly since – he always looked for the funny side of whatever he was involved in, which may explain why his research has seldom been taken seriously.
Bruce was born in 1942 on a farm in the Isle of Wight, where he grew up. His career then took him to the mainland (or England, as it is known on the Isle of Wight) and several countries in the Caribbean, South America and the Far East before he settled back on the Island again in 1984. Experiences gained during those years have contributed to the many letters that Bruce has since had published, mainly in The Telegraph and New Scientist. Admittedly, some of them may also have been influenced by regular visits to The White Horse Inn at Whitwell, Isle of Wight for invigorating Shiraz treatment.
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You Don't Have to Be a Champion... to Be a Winner!
From fitting wheels to wheelbarrows in a builders’ merchant, Brian rapidly climbed the business ladder and became a Xerox salesman. He was unaware that the professional selling skills he was learning would one day propel him into the glamorous and overtly commercial world of F1.
A disastrous debut at a racing driver school was the spark that lit his passion for motor racing. Aware of the need for some serious financial backing to be able to take part, Brian embarked on a variety of highly innovative and often extremely entertaining ways of securing sponsorship, including working with the cast of a top 1970s’ BBC sit-com, as well as with John Cleese, of Monty Python fame.
A chance meeting on a plane with Max Mosley offered an opportunity of managing one of the most popular F1 Grand Prix circuits. This, in turn, led to the heady heights of a factory drive for Mercedes and the establishment of South Africa’s first racing driver school.
It was only a matter of time before Brian’s exceptional sponsorship-acquisition skills took him to F1, where he quickly made a name for himself by securing multi-million pound deals with three of the most sought after global corporations.
However, Brian’s greatest achievement in motorsport was to establish the Motorsport Industry Association in 1994, in a bid to secure government recognition of the industry in its own right. Once again, Brian’s sales skills played a key role.
Without ever becoming a household name as a motor racing champion, Brian’s story of how he most definitely became a winner is not only inspirational, but highly entertaining, amusing, often irreverent and informative.
You Don’t Have to Be a Champion... to Be a Winner is the story of Brian Sims, who left school in 1963 with just 5 GCE O-Levels and a shattered dream of following in his father’s footsteps as a Royal Air Force pilot.
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A Seasonal Footprint
My journey has been of global proportions. The sometimes spectacular, sometimes sombre, often-times splendid, at times spiritual, most times satisfying, brings perspective to the distinctive scenes each season displays. Each holds its own ‘colours’.A viewing of the ever-changing landscape emphasises the where, the what and the when. But, when the traveller pauses to reflect upon an exploration, an event, the deeper meanings of life may surface in the how and the why of personal experience. A journey becomes a pilgrimage when one’s life goal is placed in the knapsack. This book offers a personal reflection on a ‘journey’ that is still on-track to ultimate reality.
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Rehabilitated
Rehabilitated is Valeria Tokoar’s raw account of growing up with insecurity and anxiety and with a personality that found it hard to resist temptation. Always looking for the easy way out, Valeria made one wrong decision after another until she found herself in a world of drugs, alcohol and even prostitution. In an abusive relationship, and with the threat of her son’s custody being taken away from her, she knew she had to change. But change was not easy. How did she even become a person like this? And how was she going to sober up? Would she be able to resist a world of mental oblivion that was always calling her back? Is it really possible to get one’s life on track if you’re so far gone?Rehabilitated is the story of how Valeria Tokoar managed to do just that. It’s a tale of love and loss, of family ties and of hope and faith in the face of everything.
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The English Woman And C. G. Jung
Ruth Bailey, reeling from her work as a nurse during the Great War, is feeling listless, lonely and lacking purpose. With the war over, her work as a nurse is no longer needed, and so far, she has been lucky enough to meet men who have moved her, but has been unlucky enough to lose them in heart-breaking wartimes.But when her sister needs someone to accompany her to Africa, to give her away on her wedding day, Ruth is only too happy to oblige. She's more than ready for adventure and self-discovery, and the Wangoni is calling.Little does she know, another passenger aboard the Wangoni is on a similar mission, noted psychoanalyst C.G. Jung. When the pair's paths cross, it ignites a lifelong friendship that starts with a simple exploratory research safari through Africa.Ruth Bailey, the English lady, saw the side of Jung that no academic was privy to. She met his children, his wife and his mistress, sticking with him until the very last day and learning much about herself, the human psyche and about her unforgettable Swiss friend.
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A Strange Fish Swimming in a Foreign Sea
Sierra Leone prior to and post-Independence in the early 1960s, seemed a place of tranquillity to Tim May, just twenty-one years old. He and his companions worked and played hard but Tim was labelled a failure in Freetown, in work and in health and as his manager Mr Enk said, ‘I’m sending you to manage Port Loko branch, you will bloody well sink or swim.’ It was the time-honoured treatment of a failure in the old Empire.
Management was a daunting prospect, especially without a knowledge of Bank accounting, but Tim faces the future with fatalistic hope. Immature and wracked by personal problems the prospect is bleak, particularly dealing with the wily, cunning mostly Lebanese customers who grubbed a living thousands of miles from their nation’s internecine wars. It is not only the customers Tim has to combat, but the climate, diseases and general ill health and his mental state, a strange fish in a foreign sea. It seemed the bugs and creatures, the customers, his fellow expatriates and most of all his real persona all combined to defeat him.
Tim though is a strong fish swimming amongst predators and escapes to fight other.
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A Womb With a View
This book delves into the life of the Church of England at a near grassroots level during a period of seismic change. It seeks to capture the essence of experimental ministry during a time of national uncertainty. While it doesn’t provide definitive answers, it explores various possibilities with honesty and humour. The narrative shares the joys and challenges of parish ministry in diverse settings: from the heart of a bustling city to the serene depths of rural Wensleydale, from a sprawling inner-city housing estate to the hills and coastlands of Cumbria. It enthusiastically engages with ecumenical matters and approaches interfaith diversity with a certain naivety.
“Here are the workings out of a practical theologian – a priest working across disciplines, and most powerfully working with and alongside communities.”
– The Ven. Chris Burke, Archdeacon of Barking.
“He created a platform to build on of the largest centres for social action and community activity in the country… Malcolm is courageous beyond belief and a true advocate of his faith and belief in human kind.”
– Mark Law MBC. Chief Executive, BARCA, Leeds.
“I found this lovely book quite a nostalgic read, because it reminded me of the church into which I was ordained nearly 40 years ago. I also found it deeply moving, endearingly honest, and at times profoundly inspiring. Malcolm - who is a natural entrepreneur – manages to tackle some very serious subjects without ever taking himself too seriously and he enables some powerful reflection on the meaning of ‘success’ in ordained ministry without trying to provide to many answers. I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I did.”
– James Newcome, Bishop of Carlisle.
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My Football Cities
As a life-long football fan and also a lover of travel, Simon Pask combines the two in this intimate collection of football-led travels throughout Europe. For armchair football followers, the book serves as a virtual tour around many of the hotbeds of European football, whilst for those keen to experience the stadiums and cities themselves, there are many practical tips on how to make the trips a reality, including some ideas on multi-match weekends. This book covers vast ground: you’ll find major football cities such as London, Glasgow and Munich, but also some less well-known locations such as Oslo, Bologna and Bruges. What results is an inspirational book, a cross between a football stadium guide, a city travel book and a personal diary, in which Simon’s passion for the game and his desire to make the most of each unique location come through in his own personal writing style.
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My Friend’s Place
In this debut book, Robert calls out to the hesitant senior traveller with encouragement and caution.
With the aid of trains, planes and Tuk-Tuks, this senior traveller approaches his seventieth year fuelled with the energy and wonder of his inner child. Full of self- belief, a small pinch of common sense and a huge ego, his adventure to India proves to be a humbling, hilarious, hazardous, and often, emotional experience.
Gradually, as his adventure unfolds, his ego momentarily weakens and fleeting glimpses of his true nature manifests itself, though sometimes painfully. This process has been called ‘finding oneself’, however as the saying goes, the more one finds out the less one knows.
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My Parents' Daughter
The mob bullying of an accomplished and expert senior secondary English teacher and Co-ordinator in a Victorian state school in Australia is re-told in My Parents’ Daughter giving a vivid insight into the hellish world of its victim. This first part of Victoria Hartmann’s Memoir is about workplace bullying by her four male principals, plus others, in the new millennium. This otherwise dark theme is re-told with good humour. Victoria’s intention is for her reader to laugh a lot outwardly but be moved inwardly to further discussions about this sinister blight on our democracies; perhaps even be moved to action and further the cause.
It shows how Victoria’s employer – the Department of Education, plus associated bodies, dealt with Victoria’s injuries and complaints. It questions accountability and equity or rather the lack there of. This memoir tackles head on psychological bullying and spot lights the notion that authority does not equate to honesty thus our need for external checks on governmental power brokers. The memoir’s intention is to enlighten and demands justice and change leading to prevention. It is a courageous effort by a courageous woman who owes everything to her genetics and upbringing. Please note that all names are fictitious but the content word for word true.
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Pages in a life
Pages in a Life charts the encounters in courtrooms, council chambers and sports fields that helped to start a young journalist’s career. His journey reflects his work in a vibrant and lively town in the Nottinghamshire coalfield and a path filled with laughs and surprises, taking in everything from the cricket star Harold Larwood to the notorious ‘Black Panther’ Donald Neilson.
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Poxy Chicken: Sweet and Sour Memories of Hong Kong's Last Colonial Years
This book tells the story of expatriate life in the final years of the UK's last Asian colony, and the meeting of cultures, West with East. For Frank Wingate, who was an expatriate in Hong Kong for more than twenty years, an adventure planned to last two years turned into a lengthy love affair. Both socially and professionally, Hong Kong proved a stimulating and rewarding experience. In this series of reflections, Frank looks back on the humour, frustrations and serious aspects of life in the territory. Nicknamed "Poxy Chicken" by his first class of Chinese students, making a pun of his name transliterated into Cantonese, he recounts some amusing stories, others less amusing, comments on food, language and sex, and on darker moments, such as the Tiananmen Square massacre.
£7.99