The day Di died ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's twenty-five years since Lady Diana died in Paris. Time to dive into the archive for this shot of her getting off Prince William .. so to speak! The Princess was in South Manchester to inaugurate the boat, which still gives cruises down the Bridgewater Canal in Sale. (It's certainly had a better start in life than the Prince of Wales aircraft carrier!!) This is one of two times I photographed Di, and she was always great to us cameramen, squashed into whatever corner the Secret Service had corralled us into ..

Now all I want to know is .. where the hell did those twenty-five years go?

  

Working with the stars ..

 

 

 

 

Sorry NASA, you may not have blasted off to The Moon yesterday, but I've already spent the last couple of years working there. Kind of!..

I'm delighted to say I've just finished a series of children's adventure books based on Space travel. I've written and illustrated a set of four books featuring The Moon as one of the main characters, along with the Sun, the Earth and a cast of stars and planets and .. a Black Hole!

The books are aimed at children from the age of eight, and are fun and educational with lots of interesting facts about astronomy. 

(Brief diversion .. if I was ever to believe in omens, a Beatles song has just come on the radio. Which song? Across the universe! You couldn't make it up ..)

Anyway, have a look here for a glimpse of each book, including pricing and details of a free print offer, and you can contact me directly for any of the books.

I'd love it if you gave them a try .. 

 

Houston, we have a problem ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today's cancellation of NASA's moon rocket launch took me back in time. In 1989, a pal and I set off on a Pan-Am jet to Florida to watch the launch of a Space Shuttle. "Oh, don't y'all know?" said a stewardess on the Jumbo. "It's been cancelled!" ..

Cue a week of boozing on Daytona Beach and a bizarre night in a bar to watch The Climax Blues Band. 

The only song of theirs we knew was 'Couldn't get it right' .. Whoops!

The word on the street ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I was a kid - seven or eight, probably - I received a postal order for a pound after I'd had a letter published in my weekly 'Speed and Power' comic. I was absolutely thrilled. About as thrilled as I am this morning, having received an e-mail from Amazon with the details of my first ever Royalty payment. Yes, I am earning money from my book, at long last! (I'm not going to tell you how much, but let's just say the yacht's on hold for a wee while yet!) ..

'Page 99, by Joe Bancroft' is what I call my 'factional' story (a mix of fact and fiction) of a young Manchester lad who lands his dream job as a press photographer on a local newspaper. It took me about five years to write, edit and finally self-publish on Amazon but, oh boy, has it been worth it. The reviews and comments I'm receiving are like honey to my heart, and it's fascinating to see how the book hits readers in different ways. There's been lots of 'laughing out loud',  lumps in the throat and sadness at the way Joe Bancroft's life progresses, and one reader even told me it related to her own experiences of dealing with dementia and COPD ..

 I now have five 'five-star' reviews on Amazon's website, and sales from as far afield as the USA, New Zealand and Australia. Requests for signed copies from friends and family are always a delight, too ..

I apologise if I'm 'going on' about the book but, having enjoyed my position as author, I must now take on the role of the Marketing and PR department .. (Sales! Graphs! Units!) .. but, above all, I want to get the book out to as many people as I can - people who'll enjoy a good read, a good laugh, a heart-break or two and a warm look back at life at the end of the 1970s ..

Spread the word .. please!