RETIRED farmer and poet Doug Anderson has published a saucy romance novel at the tender age of 85.
Parts of his book, Keith and Lorna – Love in the Dales, are so racy that it comes with a warning label. It is Mr Anderson’s second book, having previously published One Field at a Time in 2007 about Moor House Farm, in Brignall, where he spent his entire life, before retiring to Barningham.
What makes his latest offering all the more astonishing is that he completed it while suffering from Parkinson’s disease, and will be donating proceeds from the book to Parkinson’s UK. He said: “I started it at the farm a long time ago and finished it here [at Barningham]. I have been writing it for ten years or more.”
The story is set in the 1950s and tells of a love affair beset by tragedy, murder and revenge.
The market town it is set in is similar to Barnard Castle and some of the events in the book mimic real life events, in particular a chapter where a car crash happens.
Mr Anderson. who was chairman of Brignall, Greta and Egglestone Abbey Parish Council for more than 20 years, said: “In the war some troops pinched an army vehicle and crashed it in the river – it inspired that bit. As for the passionate bits, that’s just my fantasies in black and white.”
The author, who regularly has his amusing poems published in The Flyer newsletters, said Parkinson’s disease had made writing the book difficult and he would scribble it on pieces of paper, then recite them to his friend Margaret Stead, who then transcribed the words.
The book was then edited by Barningham resident Jon Smith. Mr Anderson said: “Jon wrote the warning [at the front of the book]. He cut a lot of it out – there was a lot that was more risque.”
Sadly, the progress of Mr Anderson’s illness is such that last week he wrote his final poem for the next edition of The Flyer. He said: “I can’t write any more – my hands shake that much. I can think but it is getting the writing down that’s the problem.”
His final poem is a reflection on the folly of running.
The book is available from Boldron’s Pinfold Club.
