Kenneth Evans

Kenneth Evans - full name Kenneth Cedric Evans - was my father. I am Lucy Evans and I am editing his legacy of manuscripts to make them available on Amazon as e-books. So this is a posthumous author profile which would have amused him!

Kenneth Evans was born on July 3 1914 in Manchester and died on July 24 2012. He had retired as a headmaster of Thomas Street School, later Wenlock Way in inner city Manchester in 1974, but from all over the world former pupils still remembered him and stayed in touch to the end. Just look on Friends Reunited!

Before WW2 as well as making them champion footballers, he had written plays for his lads at Ravensbury Street School in Manchester. He went into the war as a sailor and came out as a First Officer after years on the Atlantic convoys. Formidably intelligent, a hard fighter for what he believed in, with a robust sense of humour and infinite compassion for children, he was always a hero to many others and me. He fought to give children at his school undreamt of opportunities and succeeded completely - scholarships, science labs, pottery kilns, oil painting, chess clubs - we had it all at Thomas Street.

He published textbooks on science and world history based on the lessons he gave us. Any child could suggest a topic for a story and he would make one up on the spot - he held the classes spellbound with quick-witted heroes, witches, dragons and hopeless magicians. He wrote and produced the funniest and most magical pantomimes that were the high spot of winter for the families lucky enough to get seats. In retirement he kept his mind active by writing novels and tales for his grandsons Gerard and Harry. Some novels were nearly published but basically he was happy for just family and friends to enjoy them. Many I read over and over, never tiring of the rich invention, realistic characters and gripping plots. Historical, detective, paranormal and even family novels without violence (my mum's request) - he produced them all.

Altogether he left behind 49 typewritten manuscripts, some dating back to the 1930s. The early ones were faded and typed on very flimsy paper; the later http://www.storetec.net had many handwritten corrections. What to do with them? Too precious to be lost and I know he had hoped I would revise some of them and maybe get them published. I felt overwhelmed by the task - I wanted to make them available as e books but typing them all up was not an option. If I could get them digitised I would have a starting point but this I thought would cost a fortune.

Searching online, I found the impressive Storetec site (www.storetec.net) - clearly a well-established company with a massive client base, up to date information and news as well as case records. Without any idea of whether my request was appropriate I emailed Storetec giving a rough outline of what was involved. From then on the whole experience with Storetec has been absolutely marvellous. They treated my tiny job as if I had been a massive corporate client. It is an emotional business dealing with my beloved father's manuscripts with all their memories (both my brother Nicholas and I feature in early fairy stories) and Storetec staff were somehow intuitive and aware of that aspect. Their anticipation of my needs, their interest and respect for my father's works made me feel really happy. I will ensure each book will have an acknowledgement to Storetec. I hope more and more people who have family records, diaries or manuscripts will look to Storetec for help. It was a lucky day for me when I found them.

I am now starting the process of making the books available one by one on Amazon Kindle. There are many ex pupils out there who are eagerly waiting for them - especially the fairy stories and pantomime script!