I am, in the widest sense, an autobiographical poet. I write about my own experiences, and have done since childhood. I grew up in the North Devon seaside village of Westward Ho! (as pictured above) and never lost that soft Devon accent. I started nursing in a London hospital when I was 17, a career that spanned some 40 years in the NHS with a period in private work as our family grew up.
Like all nurses I saw much of death and healing. It became a specialist subject following a course at St Christopher’s Hospice in Kent where I studied under Dame Cicely Saunders. It was here I found my professional teaching vocation leading to both clinical teaching and higher education; developing courses for professional nurses in Death Dying and Bereavement for adults, children and their families.
My personal quest for truth grew through the Anglican church into which I was confirmed at 19. Years later it was to delve deeply into the mystical approach of the major religions when I studied Psychology and Comparative Religion with the Open University.
