Paul Howard (1)

Random choice - I'm not really into the Beatles, but love a quirky biography. Tara Browne was immortalised as the man who 'blew his mind out in a car' in 'A Day in the Life' from Sergeant Pepper. He died, aged 21, in a car crash, but had already lived a full and colourful life.

An heir to the Guinness fortune, Tara was raised by his beautiful and wealthy mother Oonagh in her Irish hideaway, travelling Europe and America with her, before settling in London just in time to embody the Swinging show more Sixties. He loved fast cars, beautiful women, famous friends, good clothes, drink and drugs. According to one friend, Tara 'had this quality about him - it was as if he'd already lived several lives before he got to you'. His personality, once past his family history, certainly leaps off the page, along with the spirit of the 60s. He fell in with Paul McCartney and the equally tragic Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones before he died, which I think is why he so perfectly describes the decade and the city he made his own: 'The day that Tara died was the end of the Sixties,' says another friend, 'His death was the point from which things started to go bad.'

A fascinating story about the man nobody remembers behind the song everybody knows. show less

The concept of this book was to get a community of authors to each contribute a short story, and the proceeds would be donated to the children's charity, Devizes & District Opportunity Centre.

The outcome is a fine collection of ten short stories, that provides a combination of inspiring, entertaining, funny and thought provoking fables. My personal favorite stories are “The Candy Vendor's Confession” and “The Store Keeper”- but I believe that there's more than enough content here to show more please everyone. I would also like to mention the impressive cover artwork design, by Des Langford.

I would also like to express my own personal thanks to the project creator Darren Worrow, and the other nine authors, who have been most kind, in supporting this well worthwhile book and concept. show less