You have 0 items in your cart
Kent author Kevin Harris is helping the homeless this coming winter by donating the proceeds of two books he has written, to Catching Lives. Anyone wanting to buy them should visit our bookshop at 28 Palace St, Canterbury CT1 2DZ. They are priced at £2.99 each.
Kevin popped in to Catching Lives to tell us how he discovered Catching Lives – quite by chance – when his wife treated him to a stay in a Canterbury hotel for his birthday three years ago. “We were coming out of an Indian restaurant and saw a youngish chap sitting against the wall with a sleeping bag wrapped around his legs,” Kevin explained. “It was minus 2°c and he was freezing. I chatted to him and found out he was ex-military. As we talked people were walking past laughing and having fun and I realised that this was unacceptable. And yet it is accepted. The next morning I discovered the Catching Lives book shop by coincidence and decided I wanted to in some way support the charity and help Canterbury’s homeless. Finally, after three years and a lockdown I’ve done this.”
The first book, entitled ‘We all Love a Loser’ is, according to Kevin, an antidote to the competitive world. “It’s collection of 10 of my own experiences where I always seem to come a cropper despite my best intentions. The picture on the cover is me being kicked in the head by Ashley Hook during a 50 round non stop light continuous fight with Ashley Hook.”
’The Boys Come First’ is based on Kevin’s experiences of managing boys’ football teams. He got so frustrated with the behaviour of the parents, boys and the cheating, that he started to write the experiences down and eventually put them together as a short story. He told us: “I became manager of Sutton Saints under 10’s in Maidstone Primary league back in the late 90s when my son played for them; the previous manager had an affair with one of the Mums and so I was the only person stupid enough to carry the team on. I then went on to manage most of the same players in a Smarden team up to under-16s. Probably the toughest job I’ve ever done, but ultimately worth it.”
Kevin originally worked in advertising agencies in London before moving down to Headcorn. As well as writing he is a graphic designer and has designed anything anything from Lolly wrappers – Wall’s Twister and Big Feast are his original designs – to writing and producing videos for Ade Edmondson (Vyvyan in The Young Ones).
To visit Kevin’s website click here
Everyone at Catching Lives thanks Kevin for this wonderfully kind gesture and we look forward to the books selling out.
