Perhaps I'm really Mervyn Davenport.
Publisher: John Beck
Published: 2003
Place of publication: Condover, Shrewsbury, Shropshire
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 408
Subjects: Beck, John.
Genres: Memoirs/Humour
First sentence: Chapter One. Mixed Infants
TO SAY I was a trifle uncertain about my identity in infancy would be an exaggeration. I never gave it another thought. But, to outsiders, I must have appeared to be a very mixed-up kid.
Description: Anecdotal memoirs of a provincial journalist, tracing life in the Staffordshire Black Country, before, during and after the Second World War. A humorous sideways look at life makes it an easy, relaxing read. A section on RAF national service, is described in reviews as "hilarious". Every period -- in a very different world from that of today, throws up a rich vein of unforgettable incidents and personalities.  His passion for travel was engendered by a beloved bicycle (cover illustration) that transported him around his districts as a young reporter and took him twice on holidays in Norway in the 1950s.  It is featured on the front cover. A few copies are still available from the author at £8, post and packing free. Send cheques to: John Beck, 54,, Harley Road, Condover, Shrewsbury. SY5 7BB. E-mail: john@beck54.plus.com.
Notes: Some of the chapter headings give a taste of its entertaining contents:
Christmas and Wakes Weeks; The Games We Played; Penny a Week and Missin's; The Lull and the Storm; Emmy and Her 'oss; Five  Craven A Split Two Ways; Newsroom Bedlam; Football Amazons; Jack Riskit and the Demise of Vaudeville; Six of Our Aircraft are Missing; The Egg-laying Cockerel; Night on a Bare Mountain; Welsh Lemmings at Dawn; and Lynmouth and Things that Go Bump