A dream come true for 86 year old Noel

''˜It's a dream come true,' said 86 year old Retford man Noel Bradley when he saw his work in print for the very first time.
Noel in 1949Noel in 1949
Noel in 1949

Carefully picking up his book of verse ‘Thirties Child’ he slowly went through it carefully turning a page at a time, obviously utterly enthralled.

As he reached the last page a smile spread over his face. He looked up at us his smile reaching his eyes and his face alight, and with his customary modesty said “It’s alright that, isn’t it?”

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It’s more than alright as evidenced by the 60 plus people who came to Noel’s first book signing at The Red Lion n Epworth. With a percentage of the profits going to Epworth based volunteer cancer charity Team Verrico (http://www.teamverrico.org) every sale is important to Noel and he got off to a great start that evening with everyone buying at least one copy.

Noel at his book signingNoel at his book signing
Noel at his book signing

Inspired by first hand experiences from his life and illustrated with original black and white photographs, his poems and verses are unpretentious, funny, vivid, down to earth, nostalgic, profound and beautiful. They are poems that literally transport you back to times long since gone; to hardships, love and experiences we can only imagine. Until now.

Accompanied by his family, his publisher, charity founder Paul Verrico and charity acting chairman Jackie McHale, Noel had a fabulous evening chatting animatedly to everyone who came to meet him. Many people found common ground with him whether it was through mining, the RAF, memories of Liverpool and Scotland, or simply memories of a way of life long since forgotten. Noel has an easy way about him, a kindly twinkle in his eye and a quick wit which puts everyone at ease straight away.

However, the best is yet to come as the formal launch of Thirties Child takes place in Retford next Wednesday May 3. Kindly hosted by WHSmith on Carolgate, Noel will be in the shop from 10am until 2pm signing his book and chatting to all comers. Available to buy from Noel on the day and on Amazon and Kindle from May 8, every book sold will benefit Noel’s chosen charity. Pop in and meet this engagingly delightful man who, at the age of 86, has finally realised his dream of having his wonderful book published.

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