Booked at the Newham Bookshop

The Newham Bookshop is now part of a Learning Resource for teachers and schoolchildren in the borough. There's lots of detail on writers and staff who love the shop plus some quotes from myself on what the bookshop means to me and this description of some old blogger:

Pete grew up in Brentwood in Essex. He studied English at University and liked to read sports books, biographies and fiction. Pete worked as a journalist before becoming a football writer. It was his love for West Ham Football Club that encouraged him to write stories. Pete his written about his childhood memories of travelling to West Ham football matches using the District line, going from Upminster to Upton Park station.

He was in his thirties when his books first got published. He felt that seeing his name on a book cover was worth more than the money. Pete never thought he would have a career from writing about West Ham and football. He was chuffed when a man told him that he read one of his books knowing that the man hadn’t read a book for 30 years.

Pete misses the old days when there wasn’t such a distance between the football players and the fans. In the old days, football players went to their local cafe after a match to have lunch and relax.

Pete often signed his books outside Newham Bookshop before the West Ham football matches kicked-off. He met people from many parts of the country. Since the West Ham football ground is no longer located at Upton Park, there is sadness and nostalgia. Pete dedicated a whole chapter in his book Goodbye to Boleyn to Newham Bookshop and another one on the pubs and cafes around the stadium at Upton Park. For him, Newham Bookshop made a huge difference to the community. The friendliness of the staff was at the heart of the bookshop’s success story.

Click on the link for more info.