‘“Help for a novice: Though I’ve always enjoyed writing about “stuff”, whether it was personal views or experiences, I had no particular ambition to write a book. The impetus came when Uncle Edmond, the last surviving sibling of my mother’s generation, celebrated his 90th birthday. It’s not easy to come up with an appropriate birthday present for a ninety-year old, so I designed a glorified birthday card, based on stories and pictures of his, and the older generation. It was a hit, and everyone at the birthday party not only wanted a copy of it, but were encouraging me to do something more elaborate - a book. I had heard about Plantain and approached them. It was all new to me, and of course I was new to them. Over time, with the interviews and discussions, we forged a relationship that went beyond that of “just another client”. I suspect I was a bit different, since I insisted that the end result had to be not just to tell the stories, but to make sure they sounded the way l would tell them. (Twice, after writing “dived”, it ended up as “dove”. Nah, I would never say “dove”, it HAS to be “dived”).
I hesitated a bit, trying to decide whether my rating should be 4 or 5 stars, and eventually opted for 4, based on the criteria for 5 “recommending for anyone”. At my age (76), I’ve long come to terms with the vast differences in peoples likes, dislikes and expectations, to feel that my own views are “transferable”. I wouldn’t hesitate to give Plantain a 5 for people like me, but I feel that it might be a bit misleading for others “not like me”.’
