We took a lot of books to the charity book shop the other day; it’s always a sad thing to do, no-one likes to get rid of books but there has come a point where we have to. We also feel that giving them to a proper bookshop might result in more money for the charity. I have come across some great books in general charity shops, very underpinned – great for the book buyer,not so good for the charity..
As usual we took the books into the shop and then had a little browse. I’ve written several times about my search for books I had as a child which sadly were lost in a move. I was looking along the children’s books and came across a treasure – not a replacement for one of my lost books, but a story I had borrowed from the library so many times as a child. Written and illustrated by John Verney it’s ‘Friday’s Tunnel’. Friday is a boy and the book is written by his sister February Callendar. I’ve tried to avoid reading anything about it because I have completely forgotten the plot, but I have read the first couple of pages and have been plunged back into an imaginary world of long ago. There were two other books about the Callendar family, February’s Road and ISMO – I shall have to see if I can find them and reread them too.
I didn’t realise when I first read them that John Verney was a ‘Sir’ and came from a very distinguished family. He was born in 1913, in London, and had a very privileged education firstly at Eton and then Oxford. In 1939, he joined up to the North Somerset Yeomanry. Later he served in the Royal Armoured Corps and saw action in North Africa, the Middle east and Italy. He was captured but he managed to escaped. He was awarded the Military Cross. After the war he became an illustrator and writer, but was also an artist. He died in 1993.
https://suffolkartists.co.uk/index.cgi?choice=painter&pid=1270
Lois Elsden 