Trevor Stubbs

Trevor Stubbs. I was born in 1948, but don't let that put you off; I hope I am still a rebel!

I spent my childhood in the grey days of the 1950s, in the very ordinary town of Northampton, England. The only truly inspiring thing I remember of those days, was my football (soccer) team.

However, things were set to change as the 1960s burst into the gloom. As a teenager, I was immersed in the Beatles, girls in mini-skirts, David Frost, soon to be followed by hippies, Joan Baez and the antiwar protests. The church was changing too. For the first time in centuries we could read the bible and worship in contemporary English. It is impossible to over-emphasise the significance of this period – it was often a battle of the generations – and I was part of it. Wow! I knew it was a privilege even then.

And fifty years on, I am still a rebel! I have served as a parish priest and taught in a theological college. I have worked in Britain (North and South), Australia, Papua New Guinea and South Sudan. But in all of this, I haven’t lost my young heart and my concern for the young. And so you will still find me in the youth club, and writing fantasy-fiction for young adults.

The world – life – should be about having fun, and enabling as many people as possible to know how to enjoy it. Yet, for millions of young people the world is a rotten place. If I can do just a little bit to change that, then my own life will have been worthwhile.

I now live in Keynsham near Bristol, in the UK. Back in the 1960s all young people knew where this place was as it was made famous on Radio Luxembourg - the teens pop music radio station of the time... So, at last, I have come to live somewhere cool!