Malcolm Walker, grandad to Sam, is donating the proceeds from sales of his new book, Saints and Sinners of the City of York, to the DSA. He’s very kindly written this blog post to tell us more about the book, his family and Sam.
This blog is about a book (pictured) I’m flogging…no, don’t turn it off, this isn’t a hard sell!
I’m not trying to be a J.K. Rowling, who is now the richest woman in Britain with the help of Harry Potter. I’m not going to be making any money but the DSA might…that is, if you keep reading.
So…let’s get me and the book into context.
I’m Malcolm Walker. I was born in York in July 1936. When people ask me if I’ve lived in York all my life, I answer ‘Not Yet’.
I’ve been married to Edna (known as Ed) for 59 years and we’ve produced two children, Paul and Lindsey, and nine grandchildren.
Paul has six children, Lindsey three. Paul had three children with his first wife and the youngest of those is 22-year-old Sam who has Down’s syndrome. Here he is, as a baby, with Ed and I.
Nobody in the family had any experience of Down’s syndrome so we were worried at the time but in the event, he was a beautiful happy baby. However, after a time, he became underweight, with a distended stomach. Sam was diagnosed as having Coeliac disease, a condition where a person has a bad reaction to gluten (a protein found in wheat, barley and rye).
Thankfully, almost immediately after being put on a gluten-free diet, Sam’s recovery was miraculous. What we hadn’t realised at the time was that people who have Down’s syndrome have a higher chance of developing autoimmune conditions like Coeliac Disease.
We were initially worried that, as Sam got older and became more independent, that he might not understand the implications for him of eating gluten. Our fears were groundless. From a very young age, wherever Sam went (whether a cafe, hotel, school etc) he would announce his situation without prompting, and quiz whoever was responsible on whether his needs could be catered for.
Sam has faced other challenges in his life, but despite all of them, he has been and remains a happy, contented and thoughtful lad. He has been the most marvellous grandson. He is adored by his older sisters, Ellie and Jess, as well as by his half siblings, twins Fred and Poppy (11) and Ollie (13).
He is also close to his cousins, Lindsey’s boys, Bob, Andy and Joe. When he was younger, Sam referred to them as the ‘Bobbies’.
How then did my book come about?
Before retirement I was a litho printer on shift work. The shifts were pretty anti-social so I took courses on guiding round the City and also in the Minster. These were interests I could pursue when I was off shift, during the day.
Over the years one amasses an enormous amount of information, not only the famous landmarks, the Minster and the City Walls say, but also related to events and fascinating characters, both good and bad, with connections with the City.
How then did my book come about?
Before retirement I was a litho printer on shift work. The shifts were pretty anti-social so I took courses on guiding round the City and also in the Minster. These were interests I could pursue when I was off shift, during the day.
Over the years one amasses an enormous amount of information, not only the famous landmarks, the Minster and the City Walls say, but also related to events and fascinating characters, both good and bad, with connections with the City.
How then did my book come about?
Before retirement I was a litho printer on shift work. The shifts were pretty anti-social so I took courses on guiding round the City and also in the Minster. These were interests I could pursue when I was off shift, during the day.
Over the years one amasses an enormous amount of information, not only the famous landmarks, the Minster and the City Walls say, but also related to events and fascinating characters, both good and bad, with connections with the City.
In the cold light of day, however, I realised that the stories of some of the ‘sinners’ were probably not suitable subjects for display in a cathedral. The idea went onto the backburner for a year or so.
That is until lockdown! Future generations are going to say ‘What did you do in Lockdown granddad?’ I’ll say ‘I wrote a book’.
After the first few weeks of the first lockdown, I was all gardened out and I was grumbling to Ed.
‘Well, shut up and write a book or paint a picture’ she said, joking. In the event, I did both. I had been going to an art class too.
My picture of our nine grandkids…from left to right at the back: Joe, Ellie, Bob, Jess, and Andy. From left to right at the front: Poppy, Ollie, Sam and Fred.
The finished product
I had all the research I needed. So, with the invaluable assistance of my son in law Mike and two of our grandchildren, Jess and Joe, I adapted it into book form.
If it does make a bob or two I would rather it went to a worthy cause and I can’t think of a better one than the Down’s Syndrome Association.
I think you’ll enjoy the book; not because it’s a literary masterpiece, but because the people in it have universal appeal. It’s not just for locals. York was a capital city under the Romans, the Saxons and the Vikings (as Jorvik). The city was burned and pillaged for daring to oppose William the Conqueror but out from the ashes it arose, phoenix like, as England’s second city.
The book might even inspire you to visit! Here is a map I’ve drawn up of the different sites in York connected to the saints and Sinners.
“We are delighted that Malcolm chose us as his charity to fundraise for. Since March 2020, we have seen a 50% increase in demand for our services yet at the same time, all our face-to-face fundraising was wiped out. We are therefore indebted to people like Malcolm who have decided to fundraise for us in new and innovative ways.
Our members and supporters are the backbone of the Down’s Syndrome Association as the money they raise allows us to continue supporting people who have Down’s syndrome throughout their lives. So we’d like to say a huge thank you to Malcolm and hope that everyone who purchased his book has enjoyed reading it.”
If you’d like to know more about the amazing history of York and would like to buy a copy of Malcolm’s book, you can order one via his website.