Fitness guru developed taste for writing in Wexford CBS
‘DOUBLE Cross’ is the title of a gripping new thriller written by the Wexford born author David Hegarty whose family once had a Builders’ Providers business on the quay in Wexford town.
David attended the final two years of secondary school in the CBS, Wexford where his English teacher Martin Murphy told him: ‘ I don’t know how you’ll do in any other subject boy but one thing you can do is put words together; you can write.’
The 72-years old author whose day job is as a fitness guru teaching a holistic approach to health, never forgot that moment.
‘He said this because I wasn’t concerned about my studies in other subjects, to the point where one teacher used to say to me, ‘David, you sit there, do whatever you want, and if you don’t bother us, we won’t bother you.’
‘In spite of my performance up to that point, I then made a Herculean effort for eight weeks, studied morning, noon and night, and to my immense satisfaction, and everyone else’s amazement, passed the Leaving Cert.’
‘And I kept on writing. Whenever I got rejections, I reminded myself of what Mr. Murphy had said.’
In 1979 an agent, Serafina Clarke, took him on and five years later, Clive Alison of Alison and Busby publishers in London and New York published the first hardback edition of ‘ Three Day Break’, an adventure story set on the south east coast.
‘So, just over 20 years after Mr. Murphy’s casual observation, I was able to send him a copy of my first published novel, in hardback, with profound thanks for the kind words on that glorious May afternoon, without which that book would not have come into existence,’ said the author who writes in longhand with a Bic biro wrapped in cellotaped newspaper to lessen the pressure on his fingers.
The writing was usually done in the early hours of the morning as David and his French wife Francoise ran a busy gym in Dublin city centre for 32 years.
‘While being privileged to have been engaged in the fitness industry for a living, writing has always been my prior aim, and still is,’ he said,.
David’s other books include a juvenile adventure called ‘Seawatch’ published by Wolfhound Press; ‘Dynamic Health’ by Marino Press, which outlines a comprehensive system of health and fitness for the corporate sector; ‘Shortstorm’ by Emperor Press, a thriller involving the crew of a fishing vessel caught up in political intrigue; while the latest book ‘Double Cross’ has been published as an eBook by Endeavour Press UK.
After his Sligo-born father’s builders providers wound up in 1959, his mother, a Wexford Hanton, bought a house in Lower George’s Street which she converted into bedsits and ran as a business to support herself and her family.
David remained in Wexford with his mother until 1962 when he emigrated..