Born in a northern English industrial town at the outbreak of WWII, the author was raised in a small terraced house in Summerfield Street, Sheffield.

Following seven years at art college, he served two-years National Service in the Royal Air Force and afterwards was employed as an artist on the local newspaper while also working as a bass player with a jazz ensemble. It was at this time he met and married Pamela his lifelong companion and carer. Shortly afterwards the newspaper was taken-over by Roy Thomson (later Lord Thomson of Fleet) and very quickly the author became first Studio Manager then Sales Promotion Manager for five other newspapers. This period culminated in his appointment as Advertising Manager of Colman Foods, Norwich during which time he was an active sailor, cruising several times to France, Holland and latterly to Gibraltar.

Moving on, he became a producer in London, but at the peak of his career he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and later-on cardiomyopathy. However this did little to stem his love of sailing nor his appetite for travel in France, Spain, and the Caribbean.

Finally, he, his wife and son emigrated, living in a rural finca in the shelter of the Sierra Navadas on the Costa Tropical, Spain. It is a story of jazz, advertising, and one woman's dedicated devotion.