Fairytale ending for the story nearly lost forever
Family of former Tele journalist turn his children’s tale into a book 20 years after his death
A BELFAST family hope they have done their late father proud after publishing a children’s book using his old scribblings and story ideas.
Former Belfast Telegraph journalist Terry Moorhead (75) passed away in 2001 and it has taken almost 70 years for his children’s stories to be brought together in one book — even after a rejection letter from Walt Disney in the 1960s.
Terry’s son Paul, daughter Gail Mack, and grandsons Patrick (22) and Peter Moorhead (26) worked together to create ‘ The Bubble Fairy’, which follows a lonely boy called Johnny Green who travels with a fairy in a magic bubble to cheer him up.
Following the passing of Terry’s wife Sheena in 2018, the family came across a suitcase full of Terry’s writings in their attic but it wasn’t until lockdown that Gail finally had a chance to bring it all together.
What began as a lockdown project of typing up her father’s handwritten and printed notes has ended with a 48-page children’s story book.
Paul (59) said there were “quite a few happy tears shed” during its production.
“We never heard The Bubble Fairy stories growing up but we knew he had written them,” he explained. He had actually sent copies of them off to Walt Disney and got a very polite rejection letter but he was very proud of the fact he got a letter with Walt Disney’s signature on the bottom.”
Terry adored his grandchildren Patrick, Peter, Craig and Rory, and Paul believes he must have dug out some of his old Bubble Fairy stories to tell them when they were young.
Paul said Gail used her free time in lockdown to start typing her father’s notes and the family decided to use his most complete stories to use as the basis for The Bubble Fairy.
“Hats off to Gail, it was no mean feat, because she’s partially sighted,” added Paul. “Deciphering my dad’s scribbles in pencil on old pieces of paper was not at all easy for her.
“She typed it up and we thought we would do a family vanity project for dad.
“He was obviously published a lot through print journalism but he never got to publish the book, which would have been a thrill for him.
“My sister just thought to gather everything he had written as best as we can, put it in a book and get it published.”
The book’s illustrations were drawn by Patrick, who is in his final year of animation at Ulster University. Peter completed the design and layout, Paul was responsible for production and Gail was in charge of editing the final book.
Paul said his only regret is that his mother and father didn’t get the chance to see The Bubble Fairy.
“We’d like to think that he’s up there somewhere and we’ve done him credit,” he continued. “For it to be a project that involved his own grandchildren, I think that would have blown him away.
“The real collaboration was between Patrick and his granddad since it’s their creative input that has made it what it is.
“My own, Gail’s and Peter’s involvement has been much more mechanical through editing, layout and production.
“The creative aspect really has spanned the generation from grandfather to grandson.
“Patrick is the youngest and actually knew my dad least. He describes it as not having memories so much but more memories of memories after seeing videos and hearing stories about him.”
In a loving tribute, the family also included some photos of Terry with his grandchildren at the end of the book.
Only 75 copies of The Bubble Fairy were printed to give to friends and family for Christmas Day but Paul said if the feedback is positive then they will consider publishing it on a wider scale.