Ray Evans

www.BeforeTheLastAllClear.com

www.RayEvansAuthor.com.

Born in Liverpool, England in 1933 into a family of 7, Ray Evans was evacuated to the South Wales town of Llanelli at the outbreak of World War Two. He remained there until the cessation of hostilities in 1945, when he and his family were returned to Liverpool to re-build their family and their lives.

Despite his initial dislike of being in South Wales and Llanelli, he grew to love the beautiful Welsh countryside and learned firsthand of the love and genuine warmth of the Welsh people. Now feeling like a duck out of water yet again, but yearning for the gently rolling hills and green valleys of South Wales, Ray vowed he would move out of the city as soon as he possibly could.

When he left school Ray worked first at the State Restaurant in Liverpool as a cooks apprentice and then for Hanson's Dairy as a delivery man before going into the Army to complete his two years National Service as a member of the Royal Army Medical Corps in Egypt.

He returned to Liverpool and in 1956 married his wife Lilian and shortly thereafter moved out of the city limits to the small village of Whiston. Lilian and Ray have one son and a daughter. In 1964 Ray started a wholesale clothing business and he and Lilian ran this enterprise together highly successfully until 1995, when they moved to the USA to be closer to their daughter and grandaughter (the inspiration for his writing the book).

Shortly after moving there Ray began writing the book at the suggestion of his daughter and with the encouragement of Lilian to help ensure the stories would be passed on to all of their grandchildren and generations to come.

In 2001 the family moved once more and settled in the gentle rolling hills of south eastern, Virginia, which with its history and connections to England feels just like home.

The first edition of Before the Last All Clear was published in 2005, with a second edition (which was the #1Readers Choice in the Welsh Book Council's Wales Reads program) published in August 2008 and subsequently being published on Kindle in 2011.

Both print editions are currently out of print, a 3rd updated edition with more photos and a full glossary (to explain the British'isms) is scheduled to be published in early December 2013.

The most common question Ray was asked at book signings and events was, "what happened after the war?" That's what inspired him to write the next part of his memoir "All I Want Is A Peaceful World...and A Pork Pie!" published on Kindle in November, paperback in December 2013.

In the process of writing both the books, Ray came to realise more than ever before, how the importance of having a home had impacted his life during the evacuation and far beyond. He supports many related charities by actively participating in fund raising events.

www.BeforeTheLastAllClear.com

Ray blogs at www.RayEvansAuthor.com.