"Thought for today:
"Often when I make reference to one of the books I have had published, I may come across as promoting the sale of my own works for the sake of profit or image. In both instances, neither is the case. Firstly, I make no profit from the sale of my sixty-six published books, never have and never will. All profit from their sales has always been given to charitable causes and this will to continue when I am no longer here, under the guidance and administration of my wife Sheila.While having raised over £200,000 of profit for charitable causes from my book sales between 1990-2005, all profits since have gone into the provision of free books to children in their churches, communities, and schools.
As to the promotion of a more favourable or famous image, I long ago stopped thinking and worrying about how others saw me and what precisely they thought of me. My behavioural instincts have, over the years, led me to work actively towards changing some of my more unpalatable behaviours. Being filled with lots of self-pride for much of my first forty years of life, I needed to actively work upon becoming more humble during the past thirty years. I found this change particularly hard to bring about and I am still very much 'a work in progress.'
During my earlier years, I always wanted/needed to be considered 'the first' or 'the best' among many and would never settle for 'second best.' Often, when I found that I wasn't the best at this or that, I simply withdrew from the race. I recall going to Canada at the age of 21 years. I had a very good voice and considered myself to be the best ballad singer in the world; someone who was clearly destined for stardom and international recognition. For the first two months in Canada, I sang for a living and it was only when I discovered that I wasn't the best singer in the world that I gave up that job and never sang in public again for the next forty years! I needed to relearn the pleasure and satisfaction of 'taking part' again and in particular, I needed to learn how to lose the race without losing face as an individual. Having had a number of 'firsts' in my life such as being the youngest Shop Steward and the youngest Youth Leader in Great Britain at the age of 18 years, alongside being the founder of 'Anger Management' at the age of 31 years, I found it very hard to become and be seen as an 'also ran' in any race I entered thereafter!
When I first married in 1968, we each had a few thousand pounds inheritance that was sufficient to almost buy a brand new £4,000 three bedroomed detached house outright. I had compensation from a traffic accident I'd incurred at the age of 11 years and my wife had compensation from the industrial death of her father from cancer of the lungs. We each had well-paid professional jobs, along with good prospects and a life style that would have been the envy of most newly weds. In 1968, life seemed so sweet and reassuring and materialism was so easy to acclimatise to.
Over the years that followed, I needed to learn how to 'give away' a lot of the material things I'd acquired and in particular, I needed to learn how not to need them. I learned that a man who has no need of material wealth is a man who cannot be bought or have his opinion paid for or swayed and his word disrespected.
Between 1990 and 2000, my reputation as a children's writer would guarantee me being featured in the West Yorkshire newspapers almost nightly. This was during a period when 860 famous people and celebrities publicly read from my books regularly in assemblies within West Yorkshire schools and I was frequently invited to take part in radio interviews and also a few local television spots. My reputation had been rapidly enhanced after the late Princess Diana asked for two of my books to be sent to her to read to her then 7 and 9-year old sons, Princes William and Harry at their bedtimes, and then Nelson Mandela personally phoned me to praise an African Story book I'd written and he'd read. Further work with the Jamaican Minister for Education and Youth Culture, along with a trans-Atlantic pen-pal project I established between 32 schools in Falmouth, Jamaica and 32 schools in West Yorkhire, witnessed me receiving some international acclaim, along with a medal from Queen Elizabeth for my services.
Since 2005, I have deliberately made it a policy to give no more press or media interviews, and with the exception of three occasions, I have kept my name out of the press and have once more become a non-public figure.
To return to where I started, any references I make to my published books or achievements in my posts these days is to relate to my experiences during my life and wherever possible to identify my faults as well as my strengths. And while I will often refer to some more 'publicly notable' aspect of my background experience, believe me when I tell, you that I currently derive the greatest of my pleasures from the most 'ordinary of people and the simplest of experiences.'
Since my most recent course of chemotherapy treatment to stabilise my cancer condition, I have felt better than I have for the past two years. Indeed, over the past two months, I have taken advantage of any fine weather we have had and have spent a few hours daily up at our allotment in Haworth with my wife, Sheila. It has been the greatest of pleasures to have been well enough to enjoy the fresh air in abundance once more without being in crowds and risking renewed infection due to all absence of my immune system.We were at the allotments the day we returned from our holiday in Cornwall and were up there again yesterday and plan to be there tomorrow, weather permitting.
From all of the books I have ever had published, my favourite book I've written for adult readership is 'Tales from the Allotment'. This book is written as a tribute to all miners of the past who found themselves unemployed and their communities shattered when the pits closed down. My deceased father was a miner for many years and the book is in memory of him. In my novel, after the redundant miners could find no future work, they first became depressed and started to believe their future lives held no happiness or meaning, until they began engaging their daily hours at their allotments, where they found purpose once more that made good use of their previous life experiences.
From all the books I have read, my favourite author was Thomas Hardy. What I most liked about Hardy was how he made all his book characters in a story significant in their own right and stand out in one's memory as somebody not to be forgotten. We all matter in life whichever side of the blankets we were born, whatever side of the tracks we were brought up and lived and however highly or lowly we think of ourselves today or are thought of! Thomas Hardy was my favourite writer and 'Tales from the allotment' (available from www.lulu.com or www.amazon.com), is my favourite of all books I've written. If you are to read just one of my books, I would urge you to read 'Tales from the Allotments' which is a Christmas story for any day of the year of one's life." William Forde: August 29th, 2017.
http://www.lulu.com/shop/william-forde/tales-from-the-allotments/paperback/product-22994880.html
"Often when I make reference to one of the books I have had published, I may come across as promoting the sale of my own works for the sake of profit or image. In both instances, neither is the case. Firstly, I make no profit from the sale of my sixty-six published books, never have and never will. All profit from their sales has always been given to charitable causes and this will to continue when I am no longer here, under the guidance and administration of my wife Sheila.While having raised over £200,000 of profit for charitable causes from my book sales between 1990-2005, all profits since have gone into the provision of free books to children in their churches, communities, and schools.
As to the promotion of a more favourable or famous image, I long ago stopped thinking and worrying about how others saw me and what precisely they thought of me. My behavioural instincts have, over the years, led me to work actively towards changing some of my more unpalatable behaviours. Being filled with lots of self-pride for much of my first forty years of life, I needed to actively work upon becoming more humble during the past thirty years. I found this change particularly hard to bring about and I am still very much 'a work in progress.'
During my earlier years, I always wanted/needed to be considered 'the first' or 'the best' among many and would never settle for 'second best.' Often, when I found that I wasn't the best at this or that, I simply withdrew from the race. I recall going to Canada at the age of 21 years. I had a very good voice and considered myself to be the best ballad singer in the world; someone who was clearly destined for stardom and international recognition. For the first two months in Canada, I sang for a living and it was only when I discovered that I wasn't the best singer in the world that I gave up that job and never sang in public again for the next forty years! I needed to relearn the pleasure and satisfaction of 'taking part' again and in particular, I needed to learn how to lose the race without losing face as an individual. Having had a number of 'firsts' in my life such as being the youngest Shop Steward and the youngest Youth Leader in Great Britain at the age of 18 years, alongside being the founder of 'Anger Management' at the age of 31 years, I found it very hard to become and be seen as an 'also ran' in any race I entered thereafter!
When I first married in 1968, we each had a few thousand pounds inheritance that was sufficient to almost buy a brand new £4,000 three bedroomed detached house outright. I had compensation from a traffic accident I'd incurred at the age of 11 years and my wife had compensation from the industrial death of her father from cancer of the lungs. We each had well-paid professional jobs, along with good prospects and a life style that would have been the envy of most newly weds. In 1968, life seemed so sweet and reassuring and materialism was so easy to acclimatise to.
Over the years that followed, I needed to learn how to 'give away' a lot of the material things I'd acquired and in particular, I needed to learn how not to need them. I learned that a man who has no need of material wealth is a man who cannot be bought or have his opinion paid for or swayed and his word disrespected.
Between 1990 and 2000, my reputation as a children's writer would guarantee me being featured in the West Yorkshire newspapers almost nightly. This was during a period when 860 famous people and celebrities publicly read from my books regularly in assemblies within West Yorkshire schools and I was frequently invited to take part in radio interviews and also a few local television spots. My reputation had been rapidly enhanced after the late Princess Diana asked for two of my books to be sent to her to read to her then 7 and 9-year old sons, Princes William and Harry at their bedtimes, and then Nelson Mandela personally phoned me to praise an African Story book I'd written and he'd read. Further work with the Jamaican Minister for Education and Youth Culture, along with a trans-Atlantic pen-pal project I established between 32 schools in Falmouth, Jamaica and 32 schools in West Yorkhire, witnessed me receiving some international acclaim, along with a medal from Queen Elizabeth for my services.
Since 2005, I have deliberately made it a policy to give no more press or media interviews, and with the exception of three occasions, I have kept my name out of the press and have once more become a non-public figure.
To return to where I started, any references I make to my published books or achievements in my posts these days is to relate to my experiences during my life and wherever possible to identify my faults as well as my strengths. And while I will often refer to some more 'publicly notable' aspect of my background experience, believe me when I tell, you that I currently derive the greatest of my pleasures from the most 'ordinary of people and the simplest of experiences.'
Since my most recent course of chemotherapy treatment to stabilise my cancer condition, I have felt better than I have for the past two years. Indeed, over the past two months, I have taken advantage of any fine weather we have had and have spent a few hours daily up at our allotment in Haworth with my wife, Sheila. It has been the greatest of pleasures to have been well enough to enjoy the fresh air in abundance once more without being in crowds and risking renewed infection due to all absence of my immune system.We were at the allotments the day we returned from our holiday in Cornwall and were up there again yesterday and plan to be there tomorrow, weather permitting.
From all of the books I have ever had published, my favourite book I've written for adult readership is 'Tales from the Allotment'. This book is written as a tribute to all miners of the past who found themselves unemployed and their communities shattered when the pits closed down. My deceased father was a miner for many years and the book is in memory of him. In my novel, after the redundant miners could find no future work, they first became depressed and started to believe their future lives held no happiness or meaning, until they began engaging their daily hours at their allotments, where they found purpose once more that made good use of their previous life experiences.
From all the books I have read, my favourite author was Thomas Hardy. What I most liked about Hardy was how he made all his book characters in a story significant in their own right and stand out in one's memory as somebody not to be forgotten. We all matter in life whichever side of the blankets we were born, whatever side of the tracks we were brought up and lived and however highly or lowly we think of ourselves today or are thought of! Thomas Hardy was my favourite writer and 'Tales from the allotment' (available from www.lulu.com or www.amazon.com), is my favourite of all books I've written. If you are to read just one of my books, I would urge you to read 'Tales from the Allotments' which is a Christmas story for any day of the year of one's life." William Forde: August 29th, 2017.
http://www.lulu.com/shop/william-forde/tales-from-the-allotments/paperback/product-22994880.html
