AUTHOR RAYMOND SPINS A WEB OF INTRIGUE
GEORGIA, 10, INSPIRES HER GRANDPA TO WRITE HIS FIRST BOOK AT AGED OF 75
A Sunderland grandad is celebrating becoming a children’s author at the age of 75.
Raymond Davies’ book Jimmy the House Spider was inspired by his tenyear-old grand-daughter Georgia Miller’s fear of creepy-crawlies.
The whimsical tale aims to banish arachnophobia by educating children on the importance of spiders from an early age.
It tells the story of a Grandpa who befriends a house spider and goes on an exciting adventure with him and was inspired by Georgia’s curiosity about the spider that resides in their lounge and her belief that Jimmy takes refuge in Grandpa’s pocket.
She encouraged Raymond to write this story and gave it her seal of approval for tackling arachnophobia. I have spent a good deal of time teaching my children and grandchildren to respect the other creatures we share our world with,” said Raymond. “My hope is this house spider adventure will dispel some o f those fears and i nfluence ch ildren a nd their parents to look kindly on these useful and harmless little creatures and indeed, all life forms which make up our world.” Now living in North Yorkshire, Raymond was born and bred in Sunderland. “I was born in Sunderland and worked there throughout most of my life,” he said. “I went to Villiers Street Junior Technical school (which is no longer there), where local boys were taught engineering to play their part in the thenlocal heavy industry.
“I was the founder of an engineering consultancy which still operates today out of Sunderland (DTA Consulting Engineers - the D is from my surname), so I feel I have given something back to the city where I was raised and nurtured.
“I now live in North Yorkshire and spend my time singing, recording and writing music and stories.”
Jimmy The House Spider is published by Austin Macauley and is available now, ISBN number 9781787107199.
For more information, visit www.austinmacauley.