Samuel W. Herbert

My name is David Cunningham, the grandson of Samuel W Herbert who is the author of The Avenue A Newcastle Backstreet Boyhood. The mystery as to why this wonderful manuscsript did not get published 30 years after it was written, was soon after Samuel had completed the book in 1982 he was diagnosed with cancer and after a short illness passed away in 1983, he was 75 years old. The family were absolutely devastated of his passing, so the accomplishment of his book had taken a back seat in there lives, although duly read by all the family, it was filed away as a momentous time of his life. The book almost forgotten, I came across it in 2010, found it in a cupboard collecting dust, of course I had already read it back in 1982, but re-reading it again I realized that this book had to be read by all. Secretly I started to look for publishers, I say secretly as I did not want the family to know what I was attempting to do incase the book was of no interest to any publisher, save the family from disappointment.

After two long years and a lot of hard work, The Avenue was published by The History Press on March 12 2012, still a secret I had to find a way to inform the family of this momentous occasion. The only way I could do this, to inform the family all at once, was to tell them I would be traveling from my home in the USA to visit my mother in Newcastle for her 76th birthday in April and would everyone attend her birthday celebration at a predetermined venue. The ruse worked, with every family member in attendance I presented The Avenue to my mother for her birthday gift and also gave a copy to each member of the family. The response was overwhelming, with a word to the local newspaper (The Newcastle Evening Chronicle) they came to write a story on the occasion.

After reading The Avenue for the second time I realized Samuels dream was to be successful in the field of literature but poverty prevented him from doing this and then finally death. So I am here to see that dream come true, albeit it is his only book, but dreams do come true with a little faith.