Driving
down to Galilee
The
diary of a writer's visit to Israel, September 1984In 1984 I
was invited by the teachers at the School of Education of the
Kibbutz Movement based at Oranim in the north of the country
to spend time with them discussing children's literature, the
training of teachers in the teaching of literature, and the
present state of literature for the young in Israel and Britain.
I
had never been to Israel, but as someone brought up in the Christian
tradition, who also spent seven years as a monk in the Anglican
church, images of the Holy Land drawn from the Bible provided
furniture for my mind and imagination. Reading and hearing about
the country, in documentaries, news reports and articles, always
sparked my interest. The invitation to see the place for myself
was irresistible.
I
decided to keep a fairly detailed diary of the visit, not only
as a record for myself but also for my wife, Nancy. It wasn't
intended for publication. But when I got back home, I made a
little book of it as a Christmas present for a few friends,
using my first PC to produce the text and a photocopier to print
the pages. This 'limited edition' of ten copies contained photographs,
documents and other items as illustrations.
Recently,
Nancy decided to go through the process for the first time of
producing a book by the digital method of Print on Demand. This
can be fairly complicated, especially for anyone who is not
experienced in computer design programs, as she wasn't. As a
'trial text' she wanted something straightforward that wouldn't
involve putting an author at risk if she didn't succeed. It
was then that we remembered my Israel diary, which Nancy thought
exactly right for her purpose.
By
the time we finished working on the book we both liked it and
the published version enough to think it worth offering readers
who are interested in my other books. And so Driving down
to Galilee is now available.
Driving
down to Galilee
Foreword
by Alan Tucker
Line
by Line
An
imprint of The Thimble Press
130
pages, full colour cover
ISBN
978-0-903355-51-3
£10
post and packing included
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