FOREWORD

I am delighted to be writing this foreword to a book that Graeme Whiting has talked about writing for many years. It also allows me the opportunity to express some gratitude to a close friend who I first met on an open day visit to the Rudolf Steiner school where Graeme was my daughter Rachel’s Class 8 teacher at the time. I was immediately welcomed into the classroom with a positive and open greeting from Graeme which included a stirring appraisal of a recent drawing that Rachel had made. ‘Now THAT is a horse!’ he said.

The strength of his conviction in the field of education was immediately apparent to me and after volunteering to accompany Graeme and his class on a school ski trip to Austria, during which we had many deeply interesting talks together, we soon became good friends. We discovered a shared interest in fishing which also led to many more conversations together sitting in nature beside various rivers, ponds and lakes.

It is a rare thing in life to find a true and reliable friend who always maintains a positive attitude no matter what. Graeme and I met at a time in my life when career and family duties were taking their toll on my energy, and he came into my life as a much-needed breath of fresh air.

I know that it was not easy for him to follow the craggy path of an educational pioneer and go through long periods of real hardship to manifest his vision of The Acorn School. In this endeavour, there was no room for compromise as he was setting new standards in the field of education and there will always be resistance to real change in any established field. I am proud to say that I was fortunate to have played a small part in helping to launch the school in those early days, but the magic and vision all came through Graeme’s determination to make his own dream a living reality.

These Short Stories are Graeme’s true-life adventures, which I suggest you savour as you might a simple glass of wine by the fireside while watching the slowly fading embers on a cosy winter’s evening.

Terry Oldfield (July 2021)

Graeme Whiting was born in 1944 and grew up on the Norfolk coast in a family of nine children. From an early age Graeme had a keen love of learning and also displayed an aptitude for sports and gymnastics. Following seven years in the British Army where he qualified and worked as a physical training instructor, Graeme began a career in education, teaching physical education in independent schools. In 1991 he founded his own school, The Acorn School, a small independent school in Nailsworth based on Graeme’s own educational experiences and human values. After twenty-seven years as headteacher at Acorn, Graeme then taught part time for a few years, allowing him to pursue more of his own interests. At the age of seventy-seven he is finally stepping back from the front line of teaching, while maintaining an active involvement in the school. He continues his lifelong passion for fishing and enjoys playing guitar, writing, consulting on education, inventing, and keeping fit, as well as being a creative writer of short stories and storyteller for more than half a century. Graeme lives in an old farmhouse in the Cotswolds with his wife, Sarah, who teaches at The Acorn School.

I N D E X

CHAPTER 1 –- Triggler Skoyles - An old fisherman’s story.

CHAPTER 2 – The Young Man and the Sea – Capture and release of a giant blue marlin.

CHAPTER 3 – The Old Soldier – A story of earned respect.

CHAPTER 4 - A Night to Remember – Catching big carp.

CHAPTER 5 – Carp Fishing – Inspiring a young brother in the 1950s.

CHAPTER 6 – Norfolk Carp Record – The illegal big carp capture.

CHAPTER 7 – A Lesson Learned – Young boys become men – eventually!

CHAPTER 8 – Control Through Rank – Bullying in the British Army.

CHAPTER 9 – A Record Carp – The German Count and the capture of his pet giant carp.

CHAPTER 10 – Bad Boy Makes Good – The Norfolk thug learns a lesson through kindness and forgiveness.

CHAPTER 11 - Lady in Disguise – From street girl to a Fashionista.

CHAPTER 12 – A Hard Way to Learn – Lesson time.

CHAPTER 13 – The Subway Gang – Street bullies learn a big lesson with good results.

CHAPTER 14 – Des’s Story – From a hard childhood of struggle to a pilot.

CHAPTER 15 – From Military Gods to Prison Warder and Bus Driver – Justice deserved.

CHAPTER 16 – Mixed Musings and Addiction to Angling – As it states.

CHAPTER 17 – George’s Story - Realising Potential.

CHAPTER 18 – The Sleeping Policemen – Our brilliant, all-seeing Police of old!

CHAPTER 19 – Realising Potential – Children’s’ Potential lies within their being.

CHAPTER 20 – What the world needs now!

CHAPTER 21 – FREEDOM WRITERS 2021