When Dubliner Jimmy Logan retired in 1998 at the age of 60 he took up bridge and singing but it was another class that introduced him to a new passion: short story writing.
He had been a Marconi Marine Radio Officer from 1960 to 1965 and travelled the world in British Merchant Navy ships, so when he sat down to write, it was natural to think of his life ashore and afloat.
In
1999 Jimmy won a runner-up prize in the Martin Healy Short
Story Competition as part of SligoÕs Literary Festival.
In 2000
he had a short story published in Dustbin Cats, published
by Pipers Hill Press, which included contributions from Hugh
Leonard and Maeve Binchy. Shortly after he became a regular
contributor to Sunday Miscellany on IrelandÕs national
radio station, RTE.
ÔFour operations for prostate cancer caused me to lose my
motivation for writing for a couple of years,Õ says Jimmy,
Ôbut when I joined a creative writing class with the Airfield
Writers I quickly realised that I wanted to write a novel.
ÔIt was a very exciting experience with characters and incidents
leaping from my mind into print,Õ he adds.
ÔQuite often I had to stop typing to write down ideas about
other stories that came to mind.Õ
His book Rite of Passage was rejected three times
before a chance meeting with the publisher of Dustbin
Cats resulted in a contract for publication by Pipers
Hill Press.
