Bob’s golden words
Bob Toynton launches his second book of collected poems in his own words at The Rockfield Centre next week.
The retired geologist, who retired from the Peak District and lives in Oban with his Shetland husband David Moore and their dog Hamish, is hoping for a good turn-out.
The free event on Friday May 26 starts at 7pm and will feature readings as well as a Q&A session.
I Used To Be Golden was inspired by an email that arrived last summer, the day after Bob’s 70th birthday.
“The friend who sent the email was the person who pushed me to publish my first book. The day after my 70th she asked me, ‘Haven’t you got enough poems for a second book now?’ I hadn’t really thought about it so I started looking and foraging through my work and discovered there was plenty,” he said.
Poems in the book cover aspects of all that life throws your way. It is also about the part memory plays in that, more than nostalgia. Childhood, belief, love and climate change also have a place in its pages.
The front cover features 59-year-old Michael, “a wellloved teddy who used to be golden” and belongs to Bob’s husband, who has a collection of bears.
“If you see a teddy all shiny and new, you know it has not been loved as much as one that is rather worn now and rough-round-the-edges. It’s a bit like us humans, if you look pristine and as if you’ve just come out of a pamper shop - you don’t look as though you have lived as much!” said Bob. His book celebrates all that is living.
Born by the sea but on the other side of the country, Bob is back in his element living by the ocean’s edge.
“I’m not a religious person but being back by the ocean puts me back in your place. It reminds me of how small I am and that there is a bigger power at play,” said Bob. One of the 40-plus poems in his latest collection, although not about Oban, is called It has to be the Ocean.
Waves of support from Oban and Lorn Writers Collective has kept him going, helping him find his voice in the published world.
I Used To Be Golden ends with a short-story coloured by a writing competition Bob entered, winning second and third place.
“I hope the launch event will get word out about my new book. It’s a way of getting people interested and demystifying, if people want to come and find out more about my work and how it comes to the page,“said Bob.
His last book of 34 selfpenned works, Birds the Colours and Shapes of Leaves, was published in 2018.