Garn Yem by Haydn Watson

 GARN YEM

HAYDN WATSON

Price £7.95 & £3.00 P & P

To ORDER:

Available from Lynn Davidson, The Memoir Club, 34 Lynwood Way,                                        South Shields, NE34 8DB

Please make cheques payable to Lynn Davidson

Or email memoirclub@msn.com

The tales of nine young men and their escapades across the North East in the 70s.

AUTHOR

I was brought up in South Shields. I lived in Simonside and attended Simonside Junior School. I then attended Westoe Boys and gained certificates including Northern Counties in Geography and CSE Grades in maths, English and English literature, history and technology. My first 20 years in employment was as an Engineer in Fabrication and Welding. In 1991, I gained a B.Ed. in Design & Technology and began teaching in Seaton Delaval. I moved onto schools as Head of Department in Sunderland and Ashington. I then took up lecturing posts at New College Durham, Gateshead College and Newcastle College. I retired from teaching in 2020.

As a child, I was an avid reader and that has continued to this day. I was spellbound by books such as Kidnapped, Treasure Island, War Of The Worlds, Robinson Crusoe, Tom Sawyer, The Old Man And The Sea, To Kill A Mockingbird and Kon Tiki.

In 2012, I began writing short stories and in 2020 I started writing my first book A Life Navigated. This story was based on true events and follows the life of a man who faced many challenges in his life. My second book Garn Yem, is about my life as a teenager in South Shields. My third book What Have We Done? is a story of the Holocaust. I have created a fictional Jewish family in Czechoslovakia who are caught up in the Shoah. I have also written a follow up to Garn Yem, which will be published next year.

I have five children and eleven grandchildren. My interests include music; I play guitar and I am a singer with the Jarrow Choral Society.

INTRODUCTION

We all look back on our formative years as young people with memories of laughter, love, sadness, desire, aspiration and friendship. If we could somehow turn the clock back and in doing so, change some elements of our past; would we be any better for it? Life throws things at us and we make decisions that will have a huge bearing on our future.

This book is a short history of a group of young men embarking on their odyssey as teenagers. The narrative is set in the early 1970s, in and around South Shields. I have used fictional characters to portray individuals and I have created settings and locales to embellish the storyline. There are some true events portrayed within the book and I have changed names and places to avoid any contradictions.

The narrative conjures up a picture of young people grasping life with both hands. It is about friendship; and with that affinity, comes sadness, humour, love and tragedy. This was the 70s, a brave new world of free-thinking young people. I was grateful to be one of the nine young men who challenged the norm and lived their lives with a smile on their face. I hope you can identify with the characters in this book and how they handle the experiences they encounter.

Finally, I do hope you enjoy Garn Yem and in order to maintain a sense of progression within the book; I would encourage you to read the individual short stories in chronological order beginning with Piles and Piccolos and ending with Laughter is the Best Medicine.

I make no apologies for the content of the book; this was a period in time when political correctness was a vision for the future. Any aspects of this narrative that appear to be factually incorrect, then that is my error and mine alone. I dedicate this book to friendship and I hope in reading it, you reflect upon your own friend's past and present.

REVIEWS

So, I have started reading your book and have laughed out loud three times and I have only read the first story.  Catherine.

It`s a great book. Thoroughly enjoyed it.   Freda Carney.

A laugh a minute, great read.  Ben Simpson.

A trip back in time, very funny and the characters are so realistic. Tom Walker.

I was reading Garn Yem in my local pub. I had to put it down because I was laughing out loud. A great read. Bob Green, South Shields.

It`s an excellent read. The author has produced a wonderful reminder of what friendship is all about. The characters portrayed are expertly defined and the stories take you back in time. Frank Rice, Hetton le Hole.

It brings back many happy memories of my youth in the northeast. Margaret Harris, Scotland.

Bought this fantastic book and what a great read. It takes you back to the 70s, good banter with many local places and faces coming back to life. Amazing work. Shirley Walker, South Shields.

Brave tales beautifully told. John Atkinson