Search results for ""author stephen chalke""
Fairfield Books Through The Remembered Gate
Here is the inside story of Fairfield Books: from its beginnings in the cricket coaching that the 45-year-old Stephen Chalke sought in the autumn of 1993 through the journeys around England and Wales that generated his first book 'Runs in the Memory' and on to the publication of 42 titles. The characters are recalled, the issues involved in creating books based on oral testimony considered, and the triumphs and disasters of small-scale publishing described. There are moments of great humour and harrowing tragedy, of unnerving encounters and unexpected revelations. 'Through The Remembered Gate' tells the story of a journey of discovery. Its author starts out with a desire to write but little knowledge of publishing, and with a love of cricket but no significant contacts in the game. By a series of accidents he becomes a chronicler of cricket's past and an established publisher of his own and others' books. Despite its moments of sorrow, it is a tale filled with joys. Into this rich mix the author adds a little of his own back story, revealing how these journeys into cricket's past have led him to see the world of his childhood with a fresh perspective.
£16.00
Fairfield Books Punchy's Hampshire Years: Cricket and Dancing
'Punchy’s Hampshire Years' tells the story of Alan Rayment’s life from 1949 to 1959, the years when he spent his summers inside the game of cricket. The book, following on from 'Punchy through the Covers', was to be the second of a three-volume autobiography, but sadly Alan Rayment died before he was able to complete it. Stephen Chalke has drawn together the written chapters, as well as notes, taped conversations and other titbits, to complete the story. There are delightful insights into the life of a professional county cricketer in the 1950s, a fascinating account of the successful ballroom dancing business that Alan and his wife Betty developed during those years and powerful descriptions of the life-changing spiritual experiences that led him to leave behind his life in cricket and dance. Even when he spends the summer of 1959 as an assistant coach at Lord’s, Alan’s radical thinking comes to the fore, generating a most surprising tale. In the words of his former Hampshire captain Colin Ingleby-Mackenzie, Alan Rayment had 'great ability and insight into people’s characters' and 'a number of qualities unusual in the normal first-class cricketer’ – and 'Punchy’s Hampshire Years' bears that out. Warmth and humour combine with a free-thinking spirit, ever curious to explore fresh worlds and new ideas, making this a stimulating memoir which is, indeed, much more ‘unusual’ than one by a ‘normal first-class cricketer’.
£15.18
Fairfield Books Footprints: David Foot's Lifetime of Writing
A bumper collection of the work of award-winning West Country journalist and author David Foot, 'Footprints' spans the full range of his work - from cricket, football and boxing to theatre, local history and murder. With an observant eye, a fascination with human nature and a felicitous way with words, David Foot - who died in 2021 at the age of 92 - wrote with insight and freshness on a wide cast of characters: from cricketer Viv Richards and rugby star Carwyn James to actor Peter O'Toole, politician Harold Macmillan and poet Siegfried Sassoon. As a cricket writer he won multiple awards, developing a style all his own. His biography of Harold Gimblett, breaking new ground by exploring the mental turmoil of the Somerset and England batsman who committed suicide, regularly features high in lists of best cricket books of all time. As a drama critic he was the first to review a Harold Pinter play and the last to review a George Formby performance. As a historian of Bristol's past he dug into hidden corners, tapping into memories of a lost world of working-class boxing booths and, through a lady lavatory attendant, the sad and sordid nightlife of the Downs in the 1930s. As a working journalist for more than sixty years, he reflected on the changing world of newspapers, notably in 'Country Reporter', a beautifully evocative and often hilarious account of his apprenticeship in Yeovil. 'Footprints' contains all this and more, some of it - like extracts from his biography of WG Grace rejected by publishers in the 1960s - never previously published. There is also private writing: from perceptive teenage diaries, right through to poignant late-life reflections on memory loss. The result is a highly original book. It is both a collection of writing by a superb wordsmith and the intimate story of how a boy from humble rural roots in Somerset overcame setbacks to become a writer not only of beguiling prose but of wisdom, compassion and humanity - a writer, in the words of one reviewer, 'of deep perception and rare sympathy'.
£22.00
Fairfield Books Yes ... No ... Wait ... Sorry!: A Cricket Quiz Book
Test your knowledge of cricket over a wide range of topics: not only run outs and centuries but also cricketers who share their names with film stars and animals - everything from 'Tipping the Scales' to 'Holy Orders'. There are 18 picture rounds - memorable moments of cricket history and images of celebrity cricketers - and 16 rounds where well-known cricketers have set questions about themselves. Perfect rain break reading - full of fun and quirkiness! All proceeds are being donated to the Professional Cricketers' Association's Trust.
£12.83