Window In The Sky

"Window In The Sky" is a collection of thoughts, feelings, hopes and dreams, put into words and drawings during the author's teenage years and onward into his twenties.
This is a very personal insight into the mind of a shy and extremely private young man, sharing his thoughts on growing up, love and heartbreak; coming to terms with his feelings in a world that seemed very much at odds with his own way of looking at life.
The author never intended for anyone else to read what he had written; in fact the contents of this book remained almost forgotten until, whilst sorting through a box of old belongings, several books filled with many of these poems, drawings and short stories were rediscovered.
Reading through his own words again, after so many years, the author wished that he could send a message back to his younger self, to let him know that life would get better and that the world he experienced in his youth would change beyond imagination.
The contents of this book have been left largely as originally written during the 1970's, with the addition of a couple of more recent pieces and a forward, entitled "The Rainbow".
The author, Paul, was born in Epsom, England.
His teenage years were spent in West Sussex, before moving on to live in south London.
After a short time in banking Paul started a long career within the airline industry and spent the rest of his working life travelling the world.

Window In The Sky is all about his experiences growing up during the 1970's and coming to terms with being gay at a time when it was only just becoming accepted.
It was a time when we saw the beginnings of the "gay movement" and Pride.
The world was slowly beginning to change for the better for gay men and women but it's been a struggle ever since and today still there are countries around the world where gay men and women are suffering a life where sadly they cannot express themselves freely without fear of persecution.

Paul says, "My book is in the form of short stories, poems, thoughts and drawings I made during my teenage years. In a way, it's a diary of my emotional thoughts and experiences during a time when I was learning to understand myself, my feelings and the ever changing world around me.
A time of falling in and out of love.
A time of discovering who I really am ".