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I dont know whether it's a Celtic character trait or just a personal foible but trainwrecks and disaster areas always hold me spellbound. So when I took the decision to migrate to the United States more than a decade ago I pondered my top ten "to visit" list. One of the locations near the top of that list was Mt St Helens. I got lucky there, it's only 40 miles north of Portland alongside I5 and I have visited many times over the last decade. Another location near the top of the list was Centralia P.A.. For anyone unfamiliar with the town and its incredible history there is a wealth of information below. This year on the way back from NAFOW in Scranton our return flight was booked from Harrisburg airport. Centralia is about 60 miles north of Harrisburg just off Highway 81.
As the pictures below clearly demonstrate Centralia is a ghost town. An underground fire has been burning in the anthracite seam below the town since 1962 and efforts to put it out were abandoned decades ago. Experts disagree on how long the subterranean conflagration will continue to rage but some estimates give it another 1000 years. Nearly 3000 people lived in Centralia in its heyday. According to the 2010 census there are now 10.
( You will need to click on the individual photos below to view the commentaries and it should be noted in passing that no visit to this fascinating corner of PA is complete without a visit to the Ashland Pioneer Tunnel Coal Mine & Steam Train )
For a brief introduction to the town and its history there is always the Wikipedia but the most authoritative account is undoubtedly The Day The Earth Caved In by Joan Quigley first published in 2007. In the prologue we learn that:-
"By 1980, Centralia boasted more than twenty-five hundred residents, most of whom had emigrated from Ireland, Wales, Germany and to an increasing extent from southern and eastern Europe."
Pictured below is the damage caused to Route 61 by the underground fire and an aerial panorama of the rerouted highway after attempts to maintain the old road were abandoned in 1993.
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| #ccf; text-align: right; padding-right: 0.4em; width: 15%; font-weight: bold;"> Description | Panoramic view of Route 61 through Centralia, PA |
| #ccf; text-align: right; padding-right: 0.4em; width: 15%; font-weight: bold;"> Date | 26 March 2008 |
| #ccf; text-align: right; padding-right: 0.4em; width: 15%; font-weight: bold;"> Source | Own work |
| #ccf; text-align: right; padding-right: 0.4em; width: 15%; font-weight: bold;"> Author |
Here is a short video documentary about the fire, its aftermath and its effect on local residents:-
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Welsh publishers Y Lolfa recently released a book Dreaming a City: The Story of Hughesovks/Stalino/Donetsk that traces the towns growth from patriarchal beginnings through the Russian revolutions, Bolshevism, Stalinism, Nazi occupation and the collapse of Communism, Nineties rising Ukraine nationalism, to Ukraine post-independence in the present market economy. Partly a revisiting of the making of the television series Hughesovka and the New Russia , this book is Russian and Welsh social and political history; travel journalism, and a tribute to Welsh historian Gwyn Alf Williams. Above all, though, it explores the tensions between a belief in social change and the danger implicit in utopian visions. Probing important themes such as capitalism and communism; internationalism and nationalism, in addition to freedom and exploitation, the author uses the city as a metaphor to explore a retreat from political idealism, and the nature of hope and disillusion. It also includes a DVD of the award winning documentary.
Dreaming a City is available on www.ylolfa.com for 9.95
A preview of the documentary can be seen here:-
"The name of Colin Thomas...a guarantee of intelligence and scrupulous integrity" (The Financial Times)
AmeriCymru spoke recently to Welsh author Alwyn Parry about his new book and his life in Wales and New Zealand. The Quarrymans Son is the story of a young lad growing up during the Second World War in the Welsh speaking community of Caernarfon. The challenges he faces on arrival as a sixteen year old to work in London and his decision five years later to sail across the world to live in New Zealand. "
REVIEW
In the early chapters of 'The Quarryman's Son', Alwyn Parry succeeds in evoking a boys life and upbringing in post-war Caernarfon with an exquisite eye for period detail. The book will bring back fond memories for some and an enchanting picture of a simpler life, now sadly gone, for many more.
There are also interesting references to old local customs which might usefully be revived. Here is Alwyn's account of the 'Ty un Nos':-
" Some had taken advantage of an ancient law, which allowed them to build a home on the common. These were known as Ty Unnos (one night house). Provided they were built overnight and there was a fire on the hearth and smoke coming out of the hole in the roof in the morning, the house was theirs to keep. Over the years, they would slowly extend their homes replacing the turf walls and roughly thatched roofs with stone and slate. It was said that they could also lay claim to the land around, the distance being measured by how far they could throw their axe from each corner of their home. "
This practice was effectively abolished in 1950 with the sale of the Faenol estate lands. One cant help thinking that a contemporary equivalent might provide a way out of homelessness and crippling mortgage payments for many.
Leaving Caernarfon for London in the 1950's Alwyn goes on to recount his youthful experiences working for the Companies Division of the Board of Trade and the reasons for his eventual decision to emigrate to New Zealand.
The book concludes with a description of a school reunion in Caernarfon and a revelation of future plans for a trip to Patagonia. All in all it is as engaging an account of one man's adventures in the Welsh 'diaspora' as one could hope for.
This title would make an ideal first purchase for the new Kindle Fire devices we will all inevitably be getting as Christmas presents this year. Go on, treat yourself 
( Available as a Kindle edition for a mere $3, the book can also be read with the Kindle for PC software available as a free download for Windows 7, XP and Vista )
INTERVIEW
AmeriCymru:- How did you come to write 'The Quarryman's Son'? Did hiraeth play a role?
Alwyn:- As I am unfortunately approaching my twilight it seemed to me that much of the history of what my childhood was like would inevitably disappear into the black pool of time. So many of us say I wish I had written that piece of family history down at the time but of course we very rarely do. Recently retired, I also wanted to write something which would encourage young people today to appreciate that you can be successful and overcome challenges which was indeed inspired by what I learned of the achievements of so many of my fellow pupils in so many fields of their chosen endeavour. I felt that it was time to put that Welsh modesty aside and blow the bugle loud and clear on their behalf because they certainly will not..
AmeriCymru:- What is your fondest boyhood memory of Caernarfon?
Alwyn:- Summer time we would head down to Porth yr Aur (which made up part of the town walls) to swim and watch the salmon fishermen standing across on the sandbanks with their nets pulling in the salmon. Occasionally a pod of dolphins would swim along speeding towards the setting sun over Aber Menai, its glow reddening the colours of the town walls and its majestic castle. There was always time to love nature.
AmeriCymru:- How much more difficult is it for youngsters growing up in modern societies compared with the challenges faced by a boy in Caernarfon in the 40's and 50's? Have social conditions improved?
Alwyn:- Fortunately in my day the worst trouble most of us got up to was being caught pinching apples although others, a little more mature, had to get married very quickly sometimes. I believe I was lucky to witness the tail end of the influence of the Chapel on the people of Wales and on reflection( whilst I have long been an agnostic ) I feel that the participation helped me recognize and establish my own life's standards. Observing todays youth, their lives appear to be more complex and their demands greater on their peers and they appear to want for more immediately without recognizing the need to be industrious to be rewarded . I would hope that the advice they receive because of the improved education of their parents and the system itself would inspire them to achieve their educational goals more readily. History repeats itself, todays economic woes are yesterdays post war rationing, so the challenges of life are only different in respect of detail, eventually it is entirely up to the individual to make the most of life.
AmeriCymru:- Care to tell us more about the Ty un Nos? How widespread was this practice on other commons in Wales?
Alwyn:- Ty un Nos (one night house) as you have read. I have relied much on my memories of the times and the stories my father told me although I tried recently to research the subject more thoroughly I did'nt receive much response from people who might have had better access to the information in Wales. However I did find the articles in Wikipedia fascinating and would recommend readers to read this. ( Ed: Wikipedia Ty un Nos )
AmeriCymru:- You became a republican and a firm supporter of Plaid Cymru in your youth. Care to tell us more about that?
Alwyn:- I was naturally influenced at an early age by my father being Secretary of the Union and recently heard from a friend in Caernarfon that she would often attend meetings of Llafur (Labour) chaired by my father in my home. He was a great friend of Gwynfor.O.Roberts M.P who gave me a signed copy of a book about Parliament..There was little doubt that i leaned considerably to the left as a youngster but was more influenced by my Welsh inheritance . During those days the Cinema would play God Save the Queen at the end or the beginning of the show and a few of us would refuse to stand up stating we were in Wales not England. Later when T.V became more common and when the programs would shut down for the night after the 10.00pm news the playing of God Save the Queen would be interrupted with a choral rendition of Hen Wlad fy Nhadau illegally broadcast by young members of Plaid Cymru. I still advocate my republicanism today and am currently trying to persuade N.Z lawmakers to review the laws of New Zealand so that I do not have to swear allegiance to the Queen and her family to get a NZ Passport!
AmeriCymru:- How strong or active is the Welsh ex-pat community in New Zealand?
Alwyn:- I am personally not deeply involved in the Welsh communities activities. Having lived here for almost half a century ones interests are spread elsewhere and most of my life I have spent travelling both throughout New Zealand and world wide. However there are several active Societies and choirs and even a Welsh pub in Wellington which I always try to attend on 1 st March to enjoy a couple of pints of Brains beer and watch the latest arrivals from Wales participate in the leek eating competition.
AmeriCymru:- Did you visit, or are you still planning to visit, Patagonia?
Alwyn:- Although I have been previously to Argentina I do hope to visit Patagonia next year as I am fascinated by the history of the Welsh and of course the beauty of the animal kingdom and their landscape. Equally I would like to return to Brittany as they too have a historical connection to the Welsh.
AmeriCymru:- What are you currently reading? Any recommendations?
Alwyn:- I am not an avid reader but generally read a book or sometimes two a month and do have a habit of straying back to old favourites which are generally historical set around the times of the Tudors. Currently however reading 'Interview with History' by Oriana Fallaci and when I find it getting a little heavy I switch to Paul Theroux for some light hearted banter.
AmeriCymru:- What's next for Alwyn Parry?
Alwyn:- Deep in thought I still have a lot of traveling to do so who knows if I find that I can afford to buy a Greek Bank with my Royalties from the sales of ' The Quarryman's Son ' I might just retire on a Greek Island and I can then invite all the members.
AmeriCymru:- Any final message for the readers and members of AmeriCymru?
Alwyn:- I bawb sydd yn perthyn i AmeriCymru, o wylod y byd, Nadolig Llawen i chwi gyd a Blwyddyn Newydd dda lle bynnag eich bod yn byw.
To all members of AmericCymru from the bottom of the world wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year wherever you may live.
Launched 5 th November 2011 (Kindle edition available January 2012)
Kings Hart Books
http://www.kingshartbooks.co.uk/index.html
The final instalment of Ambrose Conways Reso trilogy is set for publication in the beginning of November.
The first book, set in the sixties, The Reso was published in May 2007 and charted the adventures of David as he negotiated the conflicting worlds of the notorious Reso estate in Rhyl, North Wales and the insistent voice inside his head, which sounded eerily like his mothers, trying to steer him clear of trouble. Beyond the Reso , published in 2009 documented Davids teenage years in Rhyl and the traumas and triumphs of adolescence. Resolution moves the action into the eighties, the leaving of Rhyl, life at university and finding a first job as a teacher.
The Reso and Beyond the Reso have formed part of a major regeneration project in Rhyl and Denbighshire focussing on raising achievement and employability among those not in Education, Employment or Training (NEETs). The author has worked with BAFTA award winning filmmakers Huw and Lal Davies to develop a community film about growing up in Rhyl. The Reso is now being developed as a text for a multinational learning project linking Kenya, the USA, Greece, Sweden and Argentina.
Resolution follows the hero to University in York and a very different world from the Reso.
Past, present and future blur as some of his most treasured beliefs are subjected to broader scrutiny.
David weathers the first few weeks at university, facing the interminable conversations about A level grades in the Fresher ice-breaking social gathering. He endures the scribbled notes attached to yoghurt pots of communal kitchen living. He develops a singularly unsuccessful signature dish to woo desirable female students, only to find his first date is a vegetarian, and he intends to serve Gammon and Pineapple. The ensuring argument as to whether his quick-witted replacement dish, Pineapple Totale , consisting of pineapple in a jus of pineapple, constitutes a first course or a sweet casts a cloud over the first date.
In the spirit of solidarity David takes part belatedly in the occupation of the university administration building, although he cannot remember the outrageous demands of the administration! which prompted it.
Amongst the class labelled the Slugs , David finds an entrepreneurial business plan as eloquently developed as anything Lord Sugar is capable of producing. All his students require to pull it off is a deceased elephant, a strong constitution and an industrial sized fridge.
Resolution continues the quest for fine detail, beautifully recounted, established in the earlier books and it serves as a portrait of life in the late seventies and early eighties.
Ambrose Conway was born and grew up in Rhyl and has lent heavily on his teaching career from rural Cambridgeshire, suburban Cheshire and inner city Nottingham to develop and test the ideas behind the books on a live and demanding audience. In Resolution, the students have formed the inspiration for the tales of teaching as the lowly life form known as the student teacher, and the painful metamorphosis, through the educational absinthe of its day, Banda machine fluid, to the fully-fledged teacher.
As well as his schools audience, Ambrose has a growing Welsh and international following, his books selling particularly well in Canada, Australia and the USA, thanks in some part to his involvement with Americymru, the Welsh cultural organisation in North America.
'Still Rockin' - Tom Jones - A Biography' , Review and Interview With Author Aubrey Malone
By Ceri Shaw, 2011-04-12
In this post AmeriCymu member and guest reviewer Margaret Lloyd Beckham reviews Aubrey Malone's 'Still Rockin' Tom Jones - A Biography' and talks to the author. The book is available from premier Welsh publisher 'Y Lolfa' and other titles by Aubrey are listed at the bottom of this post.
As soon as I heard about this book, I wanted it, NOW! Unfortunately, that wasnt possible. I had to order it from Wales. So, it was hurry up and WAIT! I didnt have to wait long. It was in my mailbox within a few days. I read at record speed (for me); I couldnt put it down. Admittedly, I am a devoted Tom Jones fan, so the subject matter was of great interest to me!
The best part was how beautifully written it was. Aubrey Malone is an excellent writer! I learned so many things I didnt know about Mr. Jones (as I like to call him). I learned that while Tom Jones is a strong man, he is a vulnerable one as well. Both are good qualities in my opinion.
Tom endured violence during his youth, forcing him to defend himself on many occasions. This added a somber quality to his personality. He has a lovely family; hes been married to his childhood sweetheart, Linda, for more than 50 years. This relationship has been a fraught with difficulties, but he and Linda have refused to allow fame, anyone, or anything to split up their family! How many of us could do as well under these same conditions? Hes endured scandals, rumors, personal loss, and the same problems we all face. Hes done it well, in most cases. We all have things wed rather not discuss; Tom Jones is no different. He remains polite, sincere, gentlemanly, down to earth, and funny; with the most amazing and mighty voice I have ever heard!
There are some funny and crazy stories in Still Rockin. Get the book and read all about them! Thanks to Aubrey Malone for telling us about the man from Pontypridd!
Tom Jones is truly one of Wales finest gifts to the world. I can get hundreds of people (from AmeriCymru alone) that will second that! Youll love this book!
An Interview With Aubrey Malone
Margaret: Why did you choose to write about Tom Jones?
Aubrey: Next to Elvis, Tom Jones was the most powerful voice I experienced growing up, as the rock and roll boom took root in the fifties and sixties. Cerys Mathews compared it to a train leaving a tunnel. Songs like 'I'm Coming Home' and 'I'll Never Fall in love Again' blew me away. He strangled lyrics in such a muscular way and made songs, even ordinary songs, throb and pulsate. Then when you saw him moving it lent an extra surge of adrenalin. He was a powerful explosive force like a volcano and he had music gold in his throat. We all know the Welsh are great singers but Tom took it to another level. I mention in the book that Elvis (whom Tom became friends with in Las Vegas when Elvis' career was on the slide and he needed a new injection of vigour as the movie phase of his career was coming to an end) at first wanted to be a ballad singer but the pop boom killed that ambition off. Likewise,Tom could have been a classical singer if born in another age - and you could say the same about people like WhitneyHouston (who to me is really an opera singer) an d countless others, even U2's Bono. Very often the age dictates what direction a career goes in. For me Tom Jones was just as much "The Voice" as Frank Sinatra was. As he's at pains to point out himself, no matter how many headlines he grabs for the wrong reasons (even if he's responsible for a lot of that himself with the way he used to "milk" the underwear-throwing routines) you can't get away from the fact that he has an incredible range - which sustained his career even in those patches when the hits weren't coming.
Margaret: Did you have an interview with Mr. Jones?
Aubrey: I didn't interviewTom for obvious reasons. It would have been awkward for me to have put questions to him about his love life. First off, he wouldn't have answered them. He would have cancelled the interview. And it would have been hypocritical of me to talk to him about his music knowing I was going to be telling "tales out of school" about his escapades with women.Even though the book is broadly speaking an affectionate tribute to him, there are a lot of "kiss and tell" anecdotes in it as you know, and this is not something he likes to have high-profiled, especially since his marriage has survived all the lurid stories over the years and he has now returned to Linda with his tail, as it were, between his legs. I don't feel I was breaching any confidence in recycling these stories as "the man in the street" has heard most of them in some form, but it would have been insensitive of me to get "up close and personal" with the man behind them. I didn't want to tarnish Tom's reputation, and tried to focus on the humorous aspect of the stories rather than anything else.
Margaret: What other sources did you use that we might be interested in, or know about? (ex: friends of his, relatives, etc)
Aubrey: My book is what they call a "secondary" biography in the`sense that there are no "new" revaltions in it. In other words, I talked to nobody. There are so many accounts of Tom's life on the shelves already I didn't need to. But what I did do, I hope, was extract all the extraneous baggage from what had been written already and whip it down to the more readable format I was working in for my "capsule" style biography. I also tried to put in my own "ten cents" worth about what I believe made Tom such a great artist (if not husband).
Margaret: Which writers did you admire that convinced you to become one yourself?
Aubrey: I tend to have favourite books rather than authors, but the people who made me want to be a writer are many. I didn't read much as a child, except for "nickel and dime" books my father had around the house. At that time books to me were things I associated with school, which I hated. It was only when I went to university and was allowed some freedom in what I read that I discovered authors my contemporaries had been reading long before me, people like Hemingway and Mailer and Camus and Tennessee Williams, etc. Later on I discovered Charles Bukowski, who may not be the greatest writer who ever lived but in my view he's the most compulsive. I also like many Irish writers (I'm Irish myself) - Joyce, John McGahern, Neil Jordan, Des Hogan, William Trevor,Colum McCann, etc.
Margaret: Are there any particularly amusing incidents/stories that you encountered whilst writing the book? Would you please tell us one or two?
Aubrey: All of the stories about Tom's cavorting with women are funny, and some of them are hilarious in a kind of "French farce" way. you imagine him grabbing his trousers and shoes and escaping out the back windows of hotels or apartment complexes as angry husbands make their way up the stairs to whatever boudoir he happened to be in at the time. The story that most amused me about Tom was the one about the woman from Texas who claimed to be his wife, and who claimed he was really "Boris from Budapest". Some of the stories around him were wacky, like this one. From a more romantic point of view, I liked the story about him shipping over the phone box from Pontypridd which he used "like an office" in the years when he was romancing Linda.
Margaret: There are many stories in Still Rockin which are somewhat scandalous in nature. One story that we at AmeriCymru love is the turkey (chicken, as we know it) incident at a club in Caerphilly during Toms early years. Is this story for real? True or not, we love it! )
Aubrey: I wasn't in Caerphilly on the night in question but all of the stories in my book , including the chicken/turkey one, are "out there" in the public domain and in other biographies as well as my own, and testified to by either eyewitnesses and/or avid researchers so I believe the're true. Tom has been a very naughty boy but is now happily reformed - or so he says!
Margaret: Whats next for you, Mr. Malone?
Aubrey: I am working on a personal memoir of my early life, and also a "Hollywood Babylon" type book. There is also a possible biography of the actress Maureen O'Hara in the works.
Margaret: Do you have any new books coming along?
Aubrey: I have just had a book of humorous travel quotes published. It is called 'It's Great to Be Back on Terra Cotta" and is published by the History Press. Next up in "Scottish Wit" which will be published by Callio Press at the end of this month, and next month sees the publication of my book "Censoring Hollywood" by McFarland. This is an account of a century of film censorship.
Margaret: Do you have a closing message for your readers and members of AmeriCymru?
Aubrey: Please give my very best wishes to all your members and wish them a happy Easter for me. Happy reading!
'Y Lolfa' Titles By Aubrey Malone
| Books in English | |
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Still Rockin': Tom Jones, A Biography (Aubrey Malone) |
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Welsh Drinkers (Aubrey Malone) |
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Welsh Wit and Wisdom (Aubrey Malone) |
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The Jones's ( Evan, Dylan and Huw ) are emigrants from Wales trying to 'make it' in 1880's Arizona. They get off to a bad start with a failed ( and farcical ) stagecoach robbery and much drinking, gambling and whoring.
The harsh conditions in the silver mines where they work at the beginning of the book are vividly depicted. Their struggle to better themselves is long, arduous and equally brutal. The road to honest happiness for the Jones boys is a very crooked highway indeed.
Throughout this relentlessly paced novel the graphic descriptions of the seedy goings on in Tombstone's whorehouses are a source of constant delight. In the earlier chapters much of the action occurs in Velvet Ass Rose's Diamond Emporium, an establishment much frequented by the Jones boys.
There are frequent humorous interludes as when Huw enquires of his brothers after learning that the stagecoach they are holding up was already robbed "about five miles back":- "Do we wait here? When's the next?"
At another point in the narrative preparations for a forthcoming wedding are described in the following terms:-
"How nice for her. Who's the fortunate groom?"
"A Barker from Contention City named Freddy. They courted real quick. Lucy's daddy --- Sherriff Roberts? ---- he's so happy about Freddy joining the family, I hear he's bringing his shotgun. To make sure no one objects"
Though hardly lacking in incident and humor the dominant theme here is the convoluted and tempestuous relationship between the elder Jones brother, and Reyna , a woman of independent means and strong character who nurses Evan back to health after a catastrophic mining accident which causes him to become addicted to morphine. The many scenes of tenderness between them will be a delight to all lovers of graphic romances.
All in all we have no hesitation in giving this book a five star recommendation. We learn from the author's website ( see links below ) that this is part one of a forthcoming trilogy and that parts two and three are already written. We look forward to both.
'Dragon & Hawk' is published this month ( April 2011 ) by Champagne Books. To read an excerpt go here:- http://jude-johnson.com/excerptDH.html
About Jude Johnson
From the author's site :- "Jude Johnson is a writer with a passion for historical research and details. The smell of parchment, old leather, and glue bindings makes her giddy. It is her attention to accuracy that infuses her stories with authenticity, letting the reader step into those dusty streets of Tombstone or onto the pitching deck of a frigate of Nelson's Navy.
Granddaughter of a curandera, a Mexican healer who uses herbs, psychology and a little bit of mysticism, she incorporates a bit of family legend into her Dragon & Hawk series. Currently, Book One, Dragon & Hawk, is scheduled for ebook release by Champagne Books in April 2011, with print publication following. Rest assured, Books Two and Three are already written."....more here
Review by Ceri Shaw
We are extremely pleased and proud to announce that Jack Bevil will be appearing and performing at this years West Coast Eisteddfod in September. Watch this space for further details.
In the meantime here is Part I of our three part interview with Jack originally posted in 2009 Master of The Crwth - Digon o Grwth Part (1)
And here is a selection of tracks originally uploaded to the site to coincide with the interview. Enjoy!
Ambrose is a former secondary school teacher and educational consultant from Rhyl in North Wales who has a particular passion for developing positive reading habits among teenage boys who are so often lost to fiction. He has taught in rural, suburban and inner-city schools and has successfully tested out many of the ideas for 'The Reso' and 'Beyond the Reso ' on his unsuspecting students.
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Ambrose: Ive spent much of my adult life teaching in secondary schools and remember a teacher in my High School in Rhyl called John Ambrose, when a Welsh lesson had gone well, reaching for his copy of the Mabinogion and regaling us with a tale or two.
I tried to keep up the tradition in my own teaching and found that telling a tale at the end of the lesson worked well and that many of the boys, who would not normally turn to works of fiction, had magnificent tales to tell. The best was a child who told a tale of his father going lamping (hunting rabbits with a torch and a shotgun) and coming across a strange creature which darted in and out of the light he convinced all of us that there was a strange beast up on the moor!
I decided to try and write a book for those teenagers who dont read books and ended up putting together stories from my own upbringing on the notorious Reso estate in Rhyl.
I was lucky in that I seem to have struck a rich seam with anyone who grew up in Wales in the sixties and seventies so I have a second readership there. People often comment on the depth of detail in the books but I have unlimited storage space in my brain for trivia such as the colour of Standard Fireworks boxes, long-forgotten television programmes, the texture of anti-macassars and foods which have disappeared. Unfortunately, my massive long term memory comes at a cost, so what day it is and where I put the car keys often eludes me. I tell you, Im going to be an asset to the Nursing Home which finally accommodates me!
I know Rhyl fam ilies living in North America who have bought sets of the books to distribute to their families as a sort of testimony to their upbringing Im really pleased to have recorded something that others feel represented their childhood accurately.
I was surprised tha 
The Reso deals w ith the Sixties when the hero is in primary school, whilst Beyond the Reso deals with the seventies and the awkwardn ess of adolescence.
The books are also something of a morality tale as I always had too vivid an imagination and ended up chickening out of certain childhoo d rites of passage because I could see all too clearly the consequences. Although Im not a Catholic, my mum had done the Devil on your shoulder number on me and I was always convinced my sins would be found out and I would be called to account. Sorting out personal morality amongst many conflicting views is a key and universal theme of the books.
AmeriCymru: Do you think that today's adolescents face radically different challenges to those of yesteryear? How different is growing up today when compared with the experience of the 1970's generation?
Ambrose: I think every parents generation feels that their children face the most challenging times. Certainly as my boys are now in their twenties, I worry about their future but hope that their relatively happy childhood will sustain them in the current tempestuous times.
However to put this into a realistic context, my parents grew up at the end of the Great Depression and had their early adulthood punctuated by six years of World War so we need to keep some perspective here.
I asked my younger son Owen what were his three key memories of childhood and, as a twenty one year old, he had no hesitation in citing, the Christmas morning when the Manchester United shirt and model railway arrived; the time that all his mates were playing in the local stream and the rope swing broke casting his friend Ben into the water for the third time in four weeks and the summer we spent on a beach holiday in France where the aged owner of our accommodation urinated in the street just before the firework display started. So I suppose things havent changed that much!
AmeriCymru: We learn from your bio that you have a 'particular passion for developing positive reading habits among teenage boys who are so often lost to fiction'. Do you think that computers and computer gaming have played a role in this regrettable development?
Ambrose: I dont think that if there were no computers then these boys would necessarily be picking up a book. I think reading is a cultural and habitual thing which can be difficult to pick up if young children are not read to when very young. Having said that, despite a massive childhood diet, my older son Luke rarely reads fiction, indeed he has his review of Danny, Champion of the World by Roald Dahl on hand in case he is ever asked in an interview what he is reading. It served him well in school and he hopes it will be taken as an example of post-modern irony now! He is heavily into making music and painting and drawing, so I suppose he gets to develop his creative insights there.
I think computers are one of a myriad challenges for time and attention now which reading has to compete with nowadays. Children are in a perpetual state of partial attention is one of the thoughts doing the rounds here. One thing that has changed is that young people today never experience boredom they are bombarded by a constant stream of information and invasive friends on their third generation phones. Bring back boredom I say the horror of a rainy late Sunday afternoon, when all your mates had been called in for Sunday tea of potted meat sandwiches, fruit cocktail and Angel Delight and the weekend was slipping away from you.At that point getting your head into a black and white war film or a good book was really appealing.
Actually, Ive tried to entice some male readers by placing interactive materials on the website: www.thereso.co.uk . I think boys tend to be more visually and image orientated which might explain why they find the prospect of reading less enticing initially. I believe we can blend routes into reading for young people using the best of new technologies but there is no adequate substitute for a book, not even a Kindle in my opinion at the moment. However Im willing to be convinced.
A big issue in the UK at the moment is that these austere times are slashing government spending and one soft target has been libraries some of which are now slated for closure. From my own experience, I cant thank Mr Carnegie enough for establishing the trust fund which built Rhyl library at the bottom of the clock tower of the Town Hall. It was a treasure vault when I discovered it fully when in sixth form. In fact the librarian, who clearly monitored my reading, held back a copy of Lolita for me when she felt my sensitivities has developed sufficiently, and this was a lady who dressed in grey tweed and pearls. I was forever grateful (Having previously failed to find it on the shelves myself!).
AmeriCymru: Any more news on the film project that was in progress a year or so back?
Ambrose: Well, the change of government has put paid to the funding that we had spent an age putting in place for the project. Many aspects of cultural life including film, arts and books are finding themselves in a hostile environment at present.
The idea for the film came about as part of the regeneration of my seaside hometown of Rhyl. Jennie Walker of Rhyl City Strategy, introduced me to the filmmakers Huw and Lal Davies who had previously won a British Academy of Film and Television Award (BAFTA) for their work on Digital Nation a process of training people to use the film technology and then letting them loose to film a slice of their life that they got to edit to a fifteen minute slot for national broadcast on the BBC.
Huw worked the idea up to work with marginalized young people on the Reso and the results were stunning in terms of beauty and authenticity. We were able to obtain funding to train a trial group of young people and we require more funds to complete the project. We have much footage in the bag, and Huw has captured some truly haunting images of the town, its beauty and humour to lace between the stories. Ive recorded a number of readings from the books to act as a back drop. We are working on the mantra of Next Year at Sundance! as the completed film will be more a documentary of a time and place than a commercial action backed blockbuster.. that is not to say that Im not looking for funding for a feature film based on the books.
Being from the south Wales valleys, poor Huw is still coming to terms with the fact that the rivers run north to the sea where he now lives in the Clocaenog Forest, rather than south as they do in the valleys. He notices things like that, which I suppose is what gives him the creative insight for filmmaking. When we first met in a caf in Rhyl he noticed a pile of stones on a wooden ledge two storeys up on a building opposite. It is inconsequential in itself, but the story of how those stones got to be laid there sets the imagination off.
AmeriCymru: Where can our readers purchase your books and what online resources can you suggest?
Ambrose: Im with Kings Hart publishers so one point of purchase is their website http://kingshart.co.uk/ .
Beyond the Reso was produced on a print on demand basis which reduced costs and helped with distribution so they should now be available from any store by order, or from online booksellers. It might be against my commercial interests, but I always try to convince potential buyers to use a bookstore - these guys need and deserve our support and Im afraid it is very much a use it or lose it economy at the moment. Siop Y Mofa, http://www.siopymorfa.com , the Welsh bookshop in Rhyl, has recently shut its doors after bringing all things bright, beautiful and Welsh to the town for almost thirty years. Dafydd Timothy is continuing to trade online, but it is not the same for him, or for us, not having the experience of browsing for gems in the shop.
AmeriCymru: What's next for Ambrose Conway?
Ambrose: Im working on developing the texts for use in schools and talking to contacts about completing the film projects.
Im also working on the third book in the trilogy, Resolution, which should be available ready for Christmas 2011.
Ive the bones of a few ideas ready to go after that, including a political comedy about Wales and nationalism and an exploration of the desperation of middle age which I think is particularly fertile territory.
AmeriCymru: Any final message for the members and readers of AmeriCymru?
Ambrose: It has been brilliant finding that there is such a vibrant cultural life for people of Welsh extraction in North America. Ive always felt that the Irish and Scots had stolen a march on us there Im glad AmeriCymru is redressing the balance.
For those immigrants since the beginning of the sixties, I hope they have a chance to have a read of my books and that it brings a sense of hiraeth for the old homeland.
A new warts-and-all biography tells the full story of Tom Jones' amazing career: his innumerable affairs, his friendship with Elvis, and his brush with Charles Manson. It decscribes how he hit the heights, outselling Frank SInatra at the Copacabana night club, New York and the 5,000 bedroom keys that got thrown at him at Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas. However there were many lows as Tom Jones continually reinvented himself from young rock-and-roller in Pontypridd to sixties hip-swiveller to seventies cabaret king, and then, under the strict direction of his own son Mark, to mature rocker and born again gospel singer with the recently released Praise and Blame .
Now 70 years of age, Tom Jones says, "I'll still be belting out tunes when they're trying to nail me down." The biography also highlights Tom's attachment to his Welsh roots and to his wife and childhood sweetheart, Linda Trenchard -- which is, according to the author, "the craziest thing of all in the rascal's ultra-crazy life."
Author Aubrey Malone, says: "Tom is a flawed icon but an irresistible one, going up the down staircase, refusing to stay down for long. His huge belief in himself as The Voice made this the thing people would always remember when the knicker-throwing stopped."
Aubrey Malone has also published biographies of Ernest Hemingway, Charles Bukowski and Brendan Behan. This biography, Still Rockin' , sells for 6.95 and is published by Y Lolfa at www.ylolfa.com .
The winner for this year's Left Coast Eisteddfod Lovespoon is Kathy Bushman of Milwaukie, Oregon!
Kathy is an AmeriCymru member and purchased her winning ticket at this year's Night of the Living Bards event in Portland, Oregon. "I've never won anything in my life and this is so beautiful, I can't believe it's mine! Thank you so much and thank you so much to the artists who made this!"
This is the second year for the Left Coast Eisteddfod and the Left Coast Eisteddfod Lovespoon, a custom started by artist David Western of British Columbia, who was joined this year by artist Laura Jenkins-Gorun , of Ohio. David has been a well-known lovespoon carver for many years, his work has been commissioned all over the world and appears in museum collections, including St. Fagans in Wales, he teaches carving and is the author of Fine Art of Carving Lovespoons .
We very gratefully thank David and Laura for their very great contribution to the Left Coast Eisteddfod, for their hard work and their incredible, incomparable art.
This Year's Spoon
