Paul Heiney

In June 2006, Nicholas Heiney, aged 23 took his own life. Unknown to his family he had been suffering from severe mental health issues, and this terrible, tragic action was the only way that he felt he could cope with the future. His family were naturally devastated at the loss of their son. He had a gift for poetry and was a talented sailor, have already sailed across the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

The morning runs on, a springtime secret

Nicholas had got his love of sailing from his father, the TV presenter Paul Heiney, and as a eulogy to his life he decided to set out on a voyage across the Atlantic all the way down to Cape Horn in his small boat. It was a journey that he wished that they could have taken together. He was to undertake it is several legs, from the UK down to Morocco, From there to Brazil via the island of Cape Verde then down the coast of South America towards Cape Horn.

I sing, as I was taught inside myself

He was joined on his journey by friends and family making up the crew, others were strangers, sometimes he sailed solo. The voyage gave him time to contemplate Nicholas’s death and explore his feelings about it and come to terms with what had happened. He describes the act of sailing as a way of coming closer to his son, and feeling his spirit of his presence in the ocean.

the one wild song, song that whirls my words around until a world unfurls

But this is a travel book too, and the account of him sailing across the Atlantic, all the way down the South American Coast and through the Beagle Channel at the bottom of the world describing the people he meets and places he visits is pretty good too. Readers with a love of sailing will like this too, as he battles against the storms coming home to the UK.

The silence at the song’s end

It is a very moving personal account of his feelings about his son, how he has come to terms with the heartbreak and tragedy. When they were looking through his belongings after, they discovered in an untidy mass of papers a remarkable collection of writings and poetry. They have been sifted and collated into a book; The Silence at the Song's End, an all too brief literary legacy of a loved and cherished son.… (más)

Een informatief boek zoeken klonk best lastig tot ik dit boek vond.

Het is perfect voor kinderen die feitjes willen lezen. Het is op een leuke manier geschreven en in verschillende categorieën opgedeeld;
1. Wonderlijke dieren
2. Het menselijk lichaam
3. Ter land, ter zee en in de lucht
4. Praktische wetenschap
5. De ruimte in
6. Voedsel voor de geest
7. Vaart maken
8. De echt grote vragen

Kinderen kunnen dus zelf een categorie kiezen die hen het meeste aanspreekt.
Om het hele boek van a tot z te lezen kost wel echt moeite. Het leest namelijk niet echt snel. Dit ligt zeker niet aan het taalgebruik omdat dit op kinderen is afgestemd. Waar het dan wel aan ligt weet ik niet. Misschien interesses? Zelf was ik blij toen ik het boek eindelijk uithad en ik denk ook niet dat je kinderen kunt verplichten het hele boek te lezen.
Toch is dit zeker een boek om in de schoolbieb te hebben denk ik. Want je hebt altijd van die kinderen die echt alles willen weten en dit bevat behoorlijk veel informatie.
Want in dit boek worden 300 vragen beantwoord over die 8 onderwerpen.

Dit boek werd uitgelezen in de trein… (más)

Pulling Punches: A Traditional Farming Year is about, wait for it.... yup you guess it - a traditional farming year.

At Weyland farm the tractor is not king, instead the Suffolk Punch draught horse is. This book follows Paul Heiney's experience as farm hand learning to operate traditional farming equipment and work the land in the manner of "yesteryear" at a real farm which still farms in the traditional manner.

The primary focus of the book is the Suffolk Punch draught horse followed closely by the farming experiences in general. It's an easy read but I was really hoping for more details and information / portrayals on the traditional farming year.

Overall and interesting book, definitely one for horse lovers.… (más)