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This is a memoir from the point of view of a working-class boy from East Fremantle, in Western Australia who, in his formative and teenage years, had a love of the theatre and performing. Later he went on to script and produce films. Then there are eleven original musicals involving both writing and performance, some under very 'odd' circumstances. Along the journey, he developed skills as a sporting commentator. Finally, in retirement, he embarked on writing thirteen novels, three 'factional' biographies, a memoir, and a revised edition of his family's genealogy.
How this all came about, and the significant people who shared the journey, is documented, and the back stories behind the various endeavours are detailed. There are 'lost years', some triumphs and disasters, and a few very sad times, but above all, it is a reminiscence about a life lived creatively.
About the author
Jeff Hopkins (1950) is a retired schoolteacher. He lives in Western Australia. As the drama master at a private boys' school, he wrote eleven original musical plays and produced and directed them at the school. In 1992, he researched and wrote a family history, 'Life's Race Well Run', and after retiring in 2006 he has written thirteen novels and a memoir, two 'faction' biographies and a revised edition of the 1992 book. Jeff previously maintained he wrote entirely for pleasure and to fill in the long summer months between football seasons. Recently he has admitted that he set himself the task of writing in a number of different genres as part of a three-year programme to learn about creative writing and self-publishing. That three-year programme has now extended to six. He said it was like an undergraduate degree course for which there was a strict budget and work schedule. It has since become clear that the whole experiment was one of the most interesting and absorbing things he had done in his life. He continues to write.
