I was born in 1938, just 55 days before Neville Chamberlain flew to Munich to see Hitler (I don't think my appearance on this world had anything to do with that). I went to private schools, cruelly run. At University, I read lawyer but never wanted to be a lawyer, and as soon as I graduated I went into teaching, first in a private school, teaching boys between the ages of 6 and 11. Then came the first of several big moves. I married and got a job teaching in a state comprehensive school for boys and girls. That lasted six years before I went on what was called a TOSLADIC course, for Teachers of Slow Learning and Difficult Children. I moved into Special Education, took an MA in Child Development and Psychology, became a lousy Headteacher and started writing. So far, I written and published 55 books, written the scripts for over 50 TV programmes and over 100 radio shows. I've been a member of the Writers' Guild of Great Britain since 1985, and was President of the European Writers' Council from 2015 to 2016. I've been married twice - once sadly, once happily, and have three children and one grandson (who has made me cry by telling me that I'm his best friend). Politically, I'm a Socialist, because it seems to me that Socialism is the only way our planet can be saved from poverty, pollution and hunger. And that's as far as it goes... so far
