| Brian Jacques |
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| Picture by David Jacques |
| I would like to thank Redwall.org for this information. |
| Brian Jacques (pronounced 'Jakes') was born in Liverpool in 1939 and grew up in an area around the docks. He attended St. John's school, an inner city school that had it's playground on the roof. On his first day (when he was around 10) he had an experience that had seemed to mark his potential as a writer. When he was given an assignment of writing a story about animals, he about a bird that cleaned a crocodile's teeth. His teacher couldn't actually believe that a ten year old boy could write this well. When he refused to falsely say that he 'copied' the story he was caned as "a liar" (inverted commas). He had always liked to write, however it was only at this stage he realized that he had a talent for writing. It was also at St. Johns that Brian met a teacher named, Alan Durband (who apparently taught Paul McCartney and George Harrison), who, more than thirty years later would bring major changes in young Brian's life. After he finished school at fifteen, he set out to adventure in the Merchant Navy. He travelled to lots of far away ports such as New York, Yokohama and San Francisco. Tiring of the lonley life as a merchant seaman, Brian returned to Liverpool where he worked as a railway fireman, a longshoreman, a long distance lorry driver, a boxer, a bus driver, a pig (Police Constable), a postman and a stand up comedian. During the 1960's, he and six others (including his two brothers) formed a folksinging group known as The Liverpool Fishermen. His older brother, Tony, emigrated to New Zealand with Brian's younger brother Jimmy. There, Tony lived with his children and grandchildren, until 1998 when he sadly passed away. Jimmy returned to Britain twelve years later where he set up a career as a gaoler/prison officer in Lancaster. Brian has written both poetry and music, but he began his writing career in earnest as a playwright. His three stage plays Brown Bitter, Wet Nellies and Scouse (slang word form someone who comes from Liverpool) have been preformed at the Everyman Theatre. One child actor in the three stage plays was none other than Craig Charles, who later grew up to play Dave Lister in Red Dwarf. Mr. Jacques first wrote Redwall for children of the Royal Wavertree School for the blind, where he used to deliver milk. His writing style is very descriptive, because the nature of his first audience, for whom he painted pictures with words, so that they could use their imaginations. His writing gained acclaim when Alan Durband, his old English teacher, read Redwall, and showed it to a publisher without telling Brian. This lead to his first five books in the Redwall series. Brian now hosts his own weekly radio programme on BBC Radio Merseyside (Sundays on 95.8 FM in Liverpool). He has two grown sons, Marc (32 a builder, carpenter and bricklayer) and David (34 a professor of the arts and a muralist). Brian had Mariel of Redwall written in honour of his granddaughter, Jade, and dedicated The Great Redwall Feast to her. Brian enjoys walking his dog, 'Teddy' (a west highland terrier) and completing crosswords, and in his spare time reads the works of Mario Puzo, Damon Runyon, Richard Condon, Larry McMurty, and P.G. Wodenhouse. |
| The Life of Brian |