How Son of My Father Found Its Name - The Story Behind a Book Title, and a Half-Forgotten Song

In 2022, I wrote a book called Son of My Father.

I remember the moment the title came to me. I was pacing around my home, thinking — searching for a phrase that might hold the whole story together. Titles can be elusive things, they are jotted down, forgotten, some look great, then they don’t. I had a handful of ideas, each discarded for one reason or another. 

None seemed to bring the chapters together in the way I wanted.

At one stage, I had an idea that I felt could really work — to open each chapter with a subheading drawn from a song of the time. A piece of music that had shaped not only my personal experiences, but also the atmosphere of the era I was writing about. I imagined each song acting as a lyrical thread connecting memory, mood, and meaning to the story.

Then reality intervened. Copyright.

Yes, “fair use” might have allowed me to borrow a few lines, but even that felt like a legal grey area. The deeper I looked, the more it became a potential minefield of permissions and costs. Reluctantly, I let the idea go.

Still, once music had entered the conversation, I couldn’t get it out of my head. Songs have a way of unlocking memory, and as I sifted through those from my past, one stood out: Son of My Father, a 1972 hit by Chicory Tip.

I can’t say the band were favourites of mine, nor that the song had any special place in my life at the time. I remember it being played on the radio and Top of the Pops, but I was more into music by T Rex, Slade, Sweet and ELO. Years later, the song — and something in its story — resonated. It felt as though it was an ideal title for the book.

Here’s the song:

I later discovered that the title had been used before — in books, in other contexts — but that didn’t matter. For me, it fit.

Because although my book isn’t solely about my relationship with my dad, he is the presence that runs through it. The man, the mystery. As he left my life almost fifty years ago now, the book is most of what I know about him.

Writing Son of My Father was, in part, an act of discovery — not just about the past, but about what remains when memory fades and imagination takes its place. 

Read more reflections like this here.

 

Image by Tibor Janosi Mozes from Pixabay

Son of My Father - Who Was My Dad? The Man I Never Really Knew

When I began writing Son of My Father, I realised how much of my dad’s story I never really knew. So much of who he was existed quietly in the background — unspoken, unseen. What I do remember, though, was his creative side.

From my memoir, Son of My Father

I know nothing about my dad’s childhood, his schooling, or whether he was academically bright or not. I don’t even know the name of the school that he went to. I’m not sure that I ever did. He probably left school with few if any qualifications. Questions like this were never the subject of conversation between us.

Son of My Father - The Funeral Service (an extract)

An extract from my memoir, Son of My Father.      

A very different time.

My Brother wrote the service for mam's funeral. He wrote the following.

“... when she was a young lady, it was the simple things like, helping her mam in the house, learning how to cook, wash and most importantly sew. Equally another happy time for her was her schooling, she was clever and bright and always managed to be in the top stream. It has been said that in other times she may have gone on to be a teacher.”

 It continues.

“From school she went into the factories (Freeman, Hardy and Willis) and later after becoming a mum turned to homeworking. The house always had Sewing Machines in it, Overlocks, Scissors, piles of leather, trim and fabric and things in the process of being put together. She was naturally creative and could turn any idea plucked from your imagination into a fully realised costume in hours.

She was soon promoted to sample machinist because basically she was the best in the trade.”

 

Her schooling was probably typical of that time for someone from her social background. Until her funeral, I was not aware of what she had achieved at school. She would have left school at around fifteen back then.

I Don't Have An Amazon Kindle - Can I Still Read Kindle E-Books? (Yes, You Can!)

You don’t need an Amazon Kindle device to enjoy Kindle books. Learn how to read Kindle e-books on your phone, tablet, computer, or web browser — all completely free and easy to set up.

No Kindle? No Problem!

Actually, I do have an Amazon Kindle — a very old one which once belonged to my mother. After she passed away, it was given to me in a box of old technology. I recall it was full of old mobile phones, calculators, various other devices, and a Kindle. I just thought it was a tablet, until I saw the name.

Once I figured out how to turn it on, I noticed that she had an extensive collection of mostly crime fiction books. She liked a good detective story. I did read a few chapters of my own book on the Kindle!

Having written a book, an e-book that is available on Amazon (The picture, top right of page), I sometimes get asked.“But I don’t even own a Kindle… How do I read it?”

It was a good question, one that, at the time, I didn’t have an answer to.

So, I looked it up.

The good news? I discovered that you don’t actually need a Kindle device to read Kindle e-books.

Amazon has made it easy to access Kindle books from almost any device — smartphone, tablet, laptop, or even straight from your web browser. These are the main alternative to Kindle device options.

1. Use the Free Kindle App on Any Device

Surprise, surprise, there is an app for it. The easiest way to read Kindle books without a Kindle is to download the free Kindle app. It’s available for iPhone and iPad (App Store), Android phones and tablets (Google Play) and Windows PCs and Macs.

Once installed, sign in with your Amazon account, and your Kindle library, showing the books you have bought or downloaded for free, will then appear.

2. Try Kindle Cloud Reader — Read in Your Browser

The Truth About Medium - Part Five - Let's Talk About Money

One of Medium’s biggest attractions for writers is the chance to earn money right away. You join the Medium Partner Program (MPP), write, publish, and with every read from a paying member, you earn a little something in return.

Exactly how much per read? Well, that’s the mystery.

There’s a formula used — some calculation involving views, reads, and “engagement.” I’ve tried to figure it out, but like many others, I never cracked the code. Only Medium and the algorithm have the answer to that.

Still, some writers were making good money on Medium. It felt like if you show up, engage, publish regularly, and build a loyal following, you too could join the platform’s top earners.

Then comes the reality check.

Where the Money Comes From

Let’s start with where the money for writers actually comes from. It’s drawn from the pool of funds that paying members contribute — the same members who subscribe through the MPP.

Here’s where things get tricky.

How many people join Medium to just read? And how many sign-up hoping to write and earn? We roughly know the number of members, but Medium doesn’t break it down. If most members are writers, not readers, then for every person making a decent monthly, "side-hustle" income — say $500 — hundreds of others would need to make almost nothing. The money doesn’t stretch far enough.

The reason is simple: the money writers earn comes largely from the same pot they pay into. If the membership is mostly writers, it is clear that most cannot get back more than their membership fee.

If Medium had millions of paying readers who didn’t write, the pot would be much bigger, and there’d be more to go around.

Medium’s Business Model

The Truth About Medium - Part four - A few stats

Medium tends not to release too many details of stats relating to the platform. The details provided here are based on finding numbers across the web. Many are probably out of date.

How many members does Medium have?

I read elsewhere that to find an up-to-date number of registered users on the platform, you should check the number of followers of the official Medium Staff account for news and updates.

As of writing, Medium has 108 million followers.

Does that mean 108 million active accounts? I would guess not. It probably includes inactive accounts, including those who were once members of the MPP.

The number of subscribers who pay to read content on Medium?

Figures that I found on the web:

• 2019: 400,000 paid subscribers

• 2021: 725,000 paid subscribers

• 2024: 1,000,000 paid subscribers

I asked GPT-4o for user stats.

Monthly Readers: Over 100 million.

Monthly Visitors: Approximately 45 million.

Monthly Payout to Writers: Over $2 million

I have read variations on that 100 million figure — up to 110 million. 

The numbers are important, because writers are paid from member reads. 

You have to be a member of the MPP to be paid.

The 100 million+ reads a month figure looks impressive, but writers do not get paid for non-member reads. And non-members only get three “free” articles/stories a month to read. It is also possible to provide a free read link with each story, but I’ve found that most writers don’t use this.

As a writer on Medium, it is the member reads that will pay you. 

Finding those readers is the difficult part.

The Truth About Medium - Part Three - Hopes and Dreams

So, I decided to try writing on Medium as a member of the MPP, just to see if things improved.

And they did — a little.

My first decision was to be accepted by a publication. There is a clear advantage to this, in that each publication has its own built-in audience — at least in theory.

When it comes to being accepted by a publication, there is a lot of choice. There are specialist and generalist publications in terms of what they will publish.

And with some, it is easier to be accepted than others. 

I tended to go for the publication(s) that had an “open door” policy. They generally accepted anyone who adhered to Medium’s rules. They would publish a story, unless it was really bad or poorly written.

All of my stories were accepted and published, and I began to get some views and reads.

The biggest surprise was that by the end of my first month, I qualified for a payment — $11.55. I had decided to only check at the end of the month, so I was happy with the result. 

I did not expect it at all.

Now, $11.55 is not a life-changing amount, but it was a start. One of the things that drew me to Medium was the possibility that over time you could build up a passive income. Old content qualified for payment for as long as you were a member. 

But, as time passed, reality set in.

The Truth About Medium - Part Two - I Decided to Join

When I first joined Medium, I was not a paid-up member. I decided to give the platform a try, and the free membership allowed me to do that.

I thought it would be a good idea to see what kind of response I got. How much of an audience would there be? It would give me a chance to see what it was like and then use the option to join the paid programme later.

At first, I decided to write one or two longer-format stories each week. After all, everything I had read indicated that it was long-format, personal stories that do well on the platform.

As advertised, the platform was easy to use. 

The only criticism I would make is that there is not a grammar or spell check option, but other blogging sites don’t have that either. I just had to use other available options.

I wrote my first story, posted it and waited.

In fact, I didn’t have to wait long before I got a response.

The Truth About Medium - Part One: What is Medium?

It is September 2025, and I have just completed one year of being a paid member on the writing platform, Medium.

Having completed that year, has Medium delivered what I thought it would?

Read on.

But first, what is Medium?

Medium presents itself as a unique online writing platform that has transformed the way individuals share their thoughts, stories, and expertise with a global audience. 

It was launched in 2012 with the aim to provide a space where writers could express themselves freely. A platform where readers could discover high-quality content across a wide range of topics. 

It was to be a community of writers, and readers.

The platform itself offers the writer simplicity and accessibility. The user interface is fairly straightforward to understand and minimalist in design. It is not complicated to use. It allows writers to focus on their writing without the distractions often found on other platforms. 

It also helps that you do not need to be a tech genius to write on the platform. No widgets to install, or updates to deal with.

Just get on with writing.

Five More Signs of an English Baby Boomer - Things Can Only Get Better

 

1)  A cost of living crisis would happen every few years. 

Money was tight, inflation was often high, and austerity was the norm for many. People were told, “You have never had it so good.” Depends on how you define ‘good’. If it’s a little better than bad, then I suppose it was good.

2)  You watched television showing a man landing on the moon. 

I do remember seeing someone walking on the moon. Years later, pop group The Police sang about walking on the moon. And conspiracy theorists told us that the moon landing was recorded in a studio on earth. 

Next they will be saying that the Clangers aren’t real.

I’m Bored With One Line Sentences - In Defence of the Humble Paragraph.

 

Welcome to the modern age.

The age of the short attention span.

Was the last sentence too long?

Maybe so, but it was shorter than this one.

By a couple of words.

I recently read an article that had over one hundred one-line sentences in it.

Most were short sentences, but it had the occasional long one, like the last sentence above and this one.

I got a brain freeze halfway through.

I couldn’t cope with it.

By line twenty, I had lost track of what the article was about.

Where was it going?

Did it have any meaning?

And what’s wrong with using a paragraph occasionally? I might start now. The humble paragraph has been used throughout history; why shouldn’t it be used? What did it ever do wrong to offend people?

Actually, I’m having some fun. I don’t mind the occasional one-line sentence in my writing.

It can make a point.

Or not.

Short and to the point.

Five Signs of an English Baby Boomer - Nostalgia is not what it used to be.

 

1) We would often have sugar sandwiches for tea, usually because we had run out of jam — or money to buy jam. White bread, margarine, and sugar. 

It kept the dentist in business.

2) You had an aunt who would cut your hair. 

My aunt Carol cut my hair. 

“What style? Who do you want to look like?” She would ask. ‘David Bowie or David Essex?’ was my reply. They seemed to do well attracting girls; perhaps it would work for me? It didn’t. Well, I don’t think it did.

My First Television. The Big Box in the Corner

The big box in the corner.

That’s what our first televsion was called.

It's the early 1960s, and I have a memory of a rather big box that stood in the corner of our rented home.

It had a very small screen.

In fact, the screen was so small that at times a pair of binoculars would have been useful. The room was small, but it seemed to be so far away.

But there was an answer to that - we just moved the sofa and chairs closer to the television.

It was mostly a box, but it had to be.

One day the television stopped working. When that happened, the main way of getting it to work again seemed to be to hit the top of the box. Dad tried that, but it did nothing to solve the issue. The picture remained blank.

He then called in the local repairman, who in due course arrived with his handyman bag of tools.

His first job was to take the back off the big box with a screwdriver. It only took a few minutes for him to decide that one of the valves needed to be replaced. While he was doing that, I had a quick look at what was in the back. Considering the actual screen was so small, I was surprised to see all the valves, transistors and a massive tube.

It surprised me that putting all that stuff together only produced such a small picture.

Looking into the back did show me one thing, though. I had been told by my granddad that all the people who appeared on television actually lived in the back of the television set. Of course, being very young and not knowing anything about how that was possible, I just accepted his expertise on the matter. It never occurred to me that while the box may have been big, it wasn’t that big. They must have been very small people.

The handyman, having changed the valve, then turned the television on. There then followed a wait of several minutes for the set to “warm up” and a picture to appear.

It was like magic.

Money, Money, Money - I'm in the Money. When Money Changes.

  

 

   Money was different when I was a boy.

It really was different. 

It actually changed when decimalisation was introduced in the UK on 15 February 1971. The old currency system of pounds, shillings, and pence was replaced by a decimal system where the pound was divided into 100 new pence.

New coins were introduced from that date, although some had been in circulation two to three years prior.

Here is a list of the old money, coins and notes that were in issue when I was a lad. 

Ha’penny: A coin that was worth 1/2 of a penny. 

There were times when I had a lot of these, often saved in a jam jar.

Penny: A coin that was worth 1 penny. It was also called a copper. 

There was a time when I would regularly take beer bottles back to the local off-licence shop and be given a penny for each. The bottle returns were a valuable source of income for a young lad back then. Mind you, I think it is possible that quite a few adults were wondering why I was encouraging them to drink more. 

Also, the name of Miss Moneypenny in the Bond films.

Thrupence: A coin that was worth 3 pence. 

Known as a joey, but I don’t remember ever calling it that. A twelve-sided coin with character. Having some of these was a step up from the humble penny.

Tanner: A coin that was worth 6 pence. 

The coin was small, silver, and shiny. From what I can remember, it was very easy to lose, especially if you had a hole in your pocket. I suppose that the modern-day equivalent would be the five-pence coin.

It was sometimes referred to as an “Elsie”, after a character named Elsie Tanner in the popular television soap, Coronation Street. Well, that’s what it was called in our house.

A Journey Back in Time to a Summer Job That Helped Fund My Holiday.

When I was a young boy, my mother set me a challenge. It was during the long school holiday one year, and she was hoping to keep me busy and out of her way.

The challenge was that if I did a certain amount of housework and errands over the following seven days, I would be rewarded with ten shillings.

Ten shillings was a lot of money back then, in the early 1970s. It was equal to fifty pence today, but it bought you a lot more. 

For a young boy, it was a big deal, and I would either be paid in coins or a “ten bob” banknote.

A Story About Fame and Legacy

When I was a young lad, if ever I got a little too ambitious, my mother would say to me.

“You need to come back down to earth.”

Sometimes, when I was being far too ambitious.

“You need to get off your high horse.”

Meaning — stop acting as if you think you are better than others.

An idiom.

I grew up in a time when idioms were popular.

But I had no idea what an idiom was. I was probably not paying attention to the teacher at school.

I think it was my mother’s way of letting me down gently.

Life was regularly a letdown.

I did wonder about the high horse, though.

I lived in an inner city in middle England, so the only time we ever saw a horse was on television. The racing from Newmarket, Chepstow, or some other place that I would only ever see on the magical television screen.

The television also bought us a popular series for children about a horse called Black Beauty. It was based on an original story by writer Anna Sewell. It was published in 1877, and she was paid a grand total of £40.

£40 is not much for writing a book, when you consider all the time and effort. In part because of ill health, it took her several years to write it.

But it was in 1877, and back then it might have been a lot of money.

I had to find out.

I Asked Chat GPT to Come Up With a New Book Cover (Part One)

As I have been thinking about changing the cover of my book, I asked ChatGPT to come up with something that was more upbeat and colourful than the one I had originally designed. I thought the original might be too dark and unappealing.

And this was its first attempt.

I thought it was colourful and bright, but wondered why the face features were missing. 

So, I asked it to come up with its own cover.

Son of My Father - A Story in Twenty Chapter Headings

The memories of a sixties' child.  Everyone has a story to tell. Here's mine in twenty chapter headings. 

Chapter One — Just a Small Funeral. 

Chapter Two — The Mysterious Cyprus Album. 

Chapter Three —  Mam and Dad.

Chapter Four — Life at Number Thirteen.

Chapter Five — Tina.

Chapter Six — Little School.

Chapter Seven — The Little Old Lady Next Door.

Chapter Eight — The Divorce.

Chapter Nine — Son of My Father.

Chapter Ten — Big School.

Chapter Eleven — Related to a Film Star?

Chapter Twelve — The Family From Hell.

Chapter Thirteen — The Girl With Beautiful Eyes.

Chapter Fourteen — A Face From The Past.

Chapter Fifteen — Holidays In The Sun.

Chapter Sixteen — The End of Big School.

Chapter Seventeen — Making Plans For…

Chapter Eighteen — Exit Door.

Chapter Nineteen — Whatever Happened To…

Chapter Twenty — Frank.

Available on Amazon as an e-book, or if you are a member, it is "free" to read on Kindle Unlimited.

Son of My Father 

Everyone Needs a Happy Place

Do you have a happy place? A place you can go to where you feel better just by being there?

I do. I found a happy place, and it was on my doorstep.

Just a few minutes walk from my home, there is a wildlife park. It is a large park with artificial lakes, and I frequently take walks there. Walking in the park has become part of my regular exercise routine. It also helps to clear the mind.

The park is a place where I go to escape the real world.

Back to nature.

I find that early morning is the best time to go, before the rest of the world wakes up. Apart from the occasional dog walker, it often feels like I am the only person in the park. That suits me fine, as there is a silence early in the morning that I haven’t noticed at any other time. That might just be me, but most of the time the only noise comes from the birds.

I’ve also walked through the park at night, early evening, mainly because it is a shortcut to another area of the city where there is a shopping centre. In winter, to say that it is dark at that time would be an understatement. While the lights of the city can be seen in the distance, the park is in total darkness. A torch is an absolute necessity. Despite the darkness, I have never felt unsafe, but it can be a spooky adventure!

But there are other benefits.

When The Going Gets Tough, Don’t Give Up - A Life Lesson

When I was at school, there were two sporting events each year that I dreaded.

The first was the annual school swimming festival. We were expected to take part in the swimming trials to qualify.

I was not very good. I was a recreational swimmer, not a competitive one.

I did my best, but it was never going to be good enough.

I swam, but never made it to the big day.

Then there was the annual cross-country run.

A Journey Down Memory Lane. Wiping Away Errors, the Tipp-Ex Way

                                              

Until recently, I was not aware that Tipp-Ex, the correction fluid, was still available.

I have not used it in years.

There was a time when I was a regular user. It was a necessity.

For me, that was in the days of pen and paper, long before the arrival of the personal computer and laptop. And for some time after they became available, they were expensive to buy, as was a typewriter or word processor.

I tried using a typewriter, but I soon discovered that I was never going to master it.

I was left with a pen and paper.

But before Tippex, writing anything could be problematic, as mistakes stood out.

At school, most of the time, I did not know that I had made a mistake. My English teacher was the grammar checker. She would return my essays with many red marks and notes in the margin.

She would comment that I needed to improve in certain areas.

“Could do better.”

So many boys had the same three words written on their essays.

One day I noticed that a friend of mine had a little white plastic container. He was applying, via a small brush, that was part of the lid top, a white liquid to his essay.

Once dried, you could write over any mistake.

Maybe with this magic liquid I could do better?

Of course, you do have to know that you have made a mistake, and checking words using a dictionary was very time-consuming. More so if the alternative was being outside playing football with my mates.

Five English Proverbs That Describe The Writing Journey

I decided to find five English proverbs that best describe the writing journey.

                                           Free image by Queena Deng from Pixabay

Here’s what I chose.

"The pen is mightier than the sword." 

If you can write and tell a story, then you have a powerful weapon. This has been known throughout history. It is why the enemies of words try to ban or burn books, and why the writer is often seen as dangerous. 

Become a writer and challenge the world.

"A picture is worth a thousand words."

Pictures do sell products.

It is probably why publishing companies and authors spend considerable time thinking about the cover image of a book.

Good writers paint a picture with their words. Is there a better feeling than finding a story that paints a picture in your mind when reading?

The Day I Met An Investment Advisor

It was about twenty years ago that I was offered the chance to meet an investment advisor at my local bank. The meeting would be about the new opportunities they could offer, and the best long-term strategy to adopt.

                                                                      Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

I decided to go along, more out of interest than any likelihood that I was going to pursue any of the options offered, but I wanted to hear what they had to say.

I knew that the bank probably had something that they wanted to sell me. A fund, or maybe a market tracker?

So, I met with one of their advisors.

He was a young man who had the look of a banker. Swept back black hair and wearing what looked like an expensive suit.

Reminded me of the Wolf of Wall Street, except this was Middle England.

I was casually dressed. I don’t think that I looked like a high-wealth individual, but there again, I knew there were many business leaders who dressed smart and casual.

I was not a business leader, though.

We had a conversation, and I was asked what my investment goals were.

To make money, or at the very least, not to lose it? That was too obvious.

In the stock market, there is a chance that you could lose it. You can lose every penny. Companies do go bust. Or you just get unlucky, and the bull market that has been running for several years comes to an end just as you invest.

But it is also possible to do very well. Timing and time can work in your favour.