The Wonder of the Internet - Part 2 - life before the Internet

I forgot to mention in my previous post how much the connections made possible by the Internet changed things for me.  I wrote for people who know me, with the mindset that only people who know me are likely to come here.  I am not on a mission to promote something so I am not going to be plugging my blog all over the place.

Since I was 10 or so I have wanted to be a writer.  For a while letter writing and scribbling in notebooks assuaged my desire.  I grew up in a Cornish fishing village where nothing much happened from decade to decade, or so it seemed to me - if in much simpler terms.  My world extended across the village but not much beyond it until I discovered the joy of letter writing.  It was hard back then to find penpals, or so it seemed to me if one didn't come across an invitation in a publication or by word of mouth it was a case of making it up as you go along.  Even then letters were just to people I knew, for a few years, and the odd publication or television show.  Later, with the help of a large tome titled Who's Who that I poured through in respectful silence at the local library, I expanded to writing to authors whose books I enjoyed.

In my teens, I became a fan of superhero comics, not just the adventures that they contained but the fact of where they came from.  My friend Robert writes much better than I about what it was like back in the 70s 

Comics as a metaphor  Part 1 https://www.facebook.com/rob.nott.3/posts/10156350819393688

Comics as a metaphor Part 2 https://www.facebook.com/rob.nott.3/posts/10156360006633688

Comics as a Metaphor Part 3 https://www.facebook.com/rob.nott.3/posts/10156388733658688

Comics and science fiction.  One November, while my Mum and I were staying with family friends in Somerset, they took us to visit the Cathedral town of Wells.  We wandered about on what I remember as a dull and dreary day, dull until I found my way to a branch of WH Smiths.  There were no comics but there was a science fiction section.  What caught my eye was a set of three paperbacks in a cardboard presentation case, something I had never seen before.  I flicked through one of the paperbacks, by an author called Isaac Asimov.  The set was The Early Asimov, a collection of his first short stories with an introduction to each one; it spoke of his early days getting into writing science fiction, I was hooked.  It cost me every penny I had with me but I didn't begrudge it as I knew this was something special.

I was a voracious reader back in the day.  I can recall times when I would walk to Helston, a town 2.5 miles from my home, reading a paperback as I strode along the side of the main road.  It never seemed a chore that 30 minute walk while I had a book with me.  I ploughed through all of the science fiction our local library had to offer.  Over time I was introduced to books of fantasy too.  Strangely, I thought, I can remember coming across Tolkien but not being able to get past the first chapter until my late teens.

From comics, science fiction and fantasy my friend Robert (whom I mentioned above) introduced me to Dungeons and Dragons and for some years we played in group sessions that I remember lasting 12 hours or more in the school holidays.  I didn't raise then but we were actually amongst the first groups that played this role-playing game from the USA.

It was in my mid-teens that my parents and brothers went to the USA to holiday with my Dad's sister and her husband.  I didn't go with my parents, I find it hard to believe how naive, even stupid, I was back then.  The trip was again in November, to celebrate my mother's 40th birthday it was a chance to spend time with Dad's sister in particular on their first holiday since their honeymoon.  The trip would clash with my mock O Level exams and the school advised that if I failed my mocks I would fail my main exams the following June.  I acquiesced and remained behind, though any ideas of partying it up were dealt a blow when my parents announced that I would be living with my Aunt and Uncle on their farm.

The wonders I would have seen, more importantly, the life I might have had, (in hindsight, ahh hindsight, I feel sure I would have had the motivation to spend longer over there once I had that first month).

From there I moved into postal gaming with opponents in the UK, no internet back then and the odd letter to authors who meant a lot to me.

All the above to paint the picture of a life in rural Cornwall with tentative links to what was going on in the outside world.  Life moved on, I got married and some things changed but I still remained that rural kid at heart.