Every 4 Minutes - the e-book

My interest in leprosy started decades ago when I was sailing from Liverpool to Quebec.  We hit the end of a hurricane and the crossing was appallingly rough.  Unlike the vast majority of the passengers I wasn't ill - just terrified!  To try and pass the endless days I curled up miserably in the corner and read anything I could lay my hands on!  One of the little books the steward threw me from the locked cupboard was 'Who Walk Alone' by Perry Burgess.  Although written in the style of a novel, it was actually the true story of an American who Perry had met in his role as President of the American Leprosy Foundation.  'Ned Langton' as Perry called him, had served in the military in the Philippines, and after returning home, was diagnosed with leprosy and he spent the next 25 years confined to a leper colony there.

I became very aware of the awfulness of having hands that failed to respond properly when at 36, a single mother of 3 children, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and all of me, including my hands were affected.  Not being able to lift the roast from the oven, drain the potatoes, open the ironing board or turn the taps on over the bath, was a nightmare.  But I recovered, unlike the poor soul in this picture.

Charities like Lepra can offer remedial surgery and physiotherapy which give a degree of improvement and thankfully leprosy is now curable with multi-drug therapy.  However the numbers affected are staggering and the cost of finding and treating them immense. Lepra, the excellent charity that works in this field, has been as hard hit by the recession as every other charity.

Consequently my small contribution was to try and get 'Who Walk Alone' republished but this proved impossible, so I've ended up writing my own novel.  In it Clifford Harrison travels to India, falls in love with a beautiful dusky maiden, but as she's part of an arranged marriage, heartbroken he returns to England.  Two years later he discovers a strange white patch on the top of his foot, which is eventually diagnosed as leprosy.  His immediate reaction is that this must be a mistake - after all he's white, British, educated, not like the poor beggars he's seen dragging themselves along the roadside.

But the diagnosis is true, and so he returns to India.  The story tells of his life, his successes, his loves, his heartbreak and his joy. 

Why the title.  Because in 2011 Every four minutes, a person is diagnosed with leprosy

You can download the e-book of this engrossing story by clicking here  

Please do - and pass on this blog too!

Many thanks!

'Oil Under Sherwood Forest' Booklet

Yesterday another 100 copies of this booklet arrived from 4Edge 
who I find most satisfactory printers.
This booklet came about after I went for a walk in Duke's Wood in Nottinghamshire, which is situated in the village of Eakring, not far from Southwell.  I was puzzled that as I strolled through this 20 acre site I was sure, through the undergrowth, I could see what appeared to be the base of a large statue - certainly not something I was expecting!

On reaching the end of the path I saw a large glade, and sure enough at the end stood this impressive, large statue.  My first reaction was that it must commemorate some plane that had crashed during the war, but on approaching I saw that in fact the man was holding an out-sized monkey wrench!


What puzzxled me even more was the inscription on the base which stated that it was a memoral to the 12,000 local people and the group of Americans who had extracted oil from this site during WWII.

By now I was seriously puzzled, and contacted the local newspaper for more information.  They advised I put a letter into the paper, and for months afterwards I was visiting marvellous, generous people who were telling me the most amazing stories about this incredible time.

Several directed me to this book, which I found in the local Reference Library.

I could well understand that at the time it was of the upmost importance that the site, and the activity within it, had to be kept absolutely secret, or of course it would have been destroyed by the Luftwaffe, but what has always puzzled me is the fact that even today so few knew the amazing story of how Nottinghamshire oil contributed so much to the war effort.

Consequently I wrote a 49-page booklet, which both retells this incredible story but also brings it up-to-date.

To find out more just click here

Lepra fact sheet

Today I received the fact sheet from Lepra, and was able to complete the last page of my novel.If I had any doubts about donating all the profits from my novel to this cause, this informative document resolved the matter.

It really is so sad that due to the enormous stigma still attached to leprosy people hesitate to seek medical aid, although of course the longer they postphone treatment the more damage is done to nerves which control the muscles that allow movement of the hands and feet.  Then the hands lose the power to move, grow stiff and can eventually close up, forming what is known as a 'claw hand'.

It really is staggering to think that every year around 300,000 new cases are diagnosed, but because of the stigma attached to it many more cases go undetected.

And yet the great news is that leprosy is now a totally curable disease thanks to multi-drug therapy (MDT.).  If started early and taken completely and regularly, MDT cures leprosy and prevents deformity.
For more information just click here

'Saving Thoresby Hall' booklet

Yesterday I went into Derbyshire to collect another thousand booklets. I use County books

and have been well pleased with the service I've received.

The present Thoresby Hall is the third in this vicinity and was built between 1865-75 by Sydney, 3rd Earl Manvers and his half-French countess, Georgine.  The architect was Anthony Salvin.
However, this lovely building has had a most chequered history, and by the late 1990's it was on the English Heritage's 'At Risk' register, and was probably within six months of collapsing completely.

Very fortunately Warner's Holidays Ltd bought it and I just telephoned and spoke to the General Manager and said I thought visitors would be interesting in learning about the transformation of the place.  To my considerable delight he immediately invited me over - the only restriction being that I had to be prepared to wear a hard hat!
For nearly a year I visited regularly - a most wonderful experience.  Probably the most interesting was meeting the team from Herbert Read who had just finished restoration work at Windsor Castle following the devasting fire.

 The result was a 24 page booklet, heavily illustrated with before and after pictures. This can be purchased by clicking here