Allow me to introduce myself….

I was introduced into the suburbs of post-war London in 1949. My father a returning dispatch rider stationed in Naples, my mother worked in the War Office in Churchill’s bunker.

As a child I ran free in the countryside, in the midst of nature, with pet crows, snakes, guinea pigs, rabbits, mice and rats. As a sun-bronzed hyperactive ragamuffin I spent my life up trees, building camps, in ditches and ponds and hunting lizards. Idyllic and free.

As a pre-teenager I discovered rock ‘n’ roll, then blues, girls and excitement. I found myself booted out of cubs, scouts, cadets and seemed to annoy certain people in authority by not wanting to behave or look like they wanted me to look. I was scruffy and wild.

As a teenager I grew hair, was constantly being sent home, had numerous girlfriends, was mad about the Beatles, Who, Pretty Things, Small Faces, Kinks, Yardbirds, Stones and Bob Dylan and started going to live gigs (the Birds, Them and Downliners Sect) and was reading Sci-fi.

By the mid-sixties to late-sixties I was reading Kerouac, Ginsberg and Henry Miller. I’d scraped into college to do a Zoology degree and was firmly entrenched in the London Underground scene – Middle Earth, UFO, Marquis, Les Cousins, Roundhouse. Three gigs a week. I saw almost everyone. Now the likes of Captain Beefheart, Roy Harper, Frank Zappa, Hendrix, Cream, Son House, Jackson C Frank, Country Joe and the Fish, Neil Young, Incredible String Band, Phil Ochs, Velvet Underground and Joni Mitchell joined the fray. Words were my thing. I was a sucker for good lyrics, poetry and clever wordsmiths. I was frequenting Abbey Road studios as a friend of Roy Harper with hair down to my arse, a motor-bike and a head swirling with idealism and wild dreams. I met and set up home with my life-long sweetheart.

For four or five years I was in the centre of the storm. It swirled around me and through me. My evenings spent with friends, sharing, toking, arguing, discussing and listening to music I a mad whirl of interaction and revelation. The music was central. I started writing.

By the mid-seventies the sixties dream had long died and reality hit home. Then Punk hit and I was surging on the tsunami of Sex pistols, Ian Dury, Elvis Costello Stiff Little Fingers and Gang of Four. We had four great kids and I needed an income. I spent thirty-six years in teaching and had a great life opening young minds and expanding horizons. Teaching was a joy. I became a Head Teacher in a Comprehensive Secondary School. The energy and idealism of the young kids gave me nourishment. I kept writing.

We travelled the world, kept gigging and discovering and I started publishing my books.

Now I am here.

27.12.2024

Who am I? – one of the most popular posts last year.

I am a prolific writer of Science Fiction, Rock Music and alternative style semi-autobiographical books and fiction. I have written 59 books. If you’re looking for something different then you have found it! Just buy one from Amazon and see!

My influences include Henry Miller, Jack Kerouac, Captain Beefheart, Allen Ginsberg, Christopher Hitchins, Roy Harper, Bob Dylan, Margaret Atwood, Woody Guthrie and Kurt Vonnegut Jnr.

I was born in 1949 in the Thames Delta in the deep South outside London. I grew up in the 1960s and was thoroughly immersed in the London scene and counter-culture. I was a student through all those heady days and lapped up the idealism and optimism of the times. We knew we were changing the world and bringing new sensibilities to bear. Those were the days that spawned feminism, the green movement, anti-capitalism and civil rights.

I was there through the whole gamut of Rock Music. As a kid I heard Little Richard on the radio and then there was the Beatles, Psychedelia and the London Underground, Acid Rock and the West Coast alternative culture, IT, OZ and a thriving Rock scene and cultural tsunami.

I got to see most of the important acts – Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Cream, Roy Harper, Captain Beefheart, Country Joe & the Fish, Muddy Waters, Pink Floyd, Son House and Bo Diddley – and hosts of others. I went to all the big festivals and events.

The 1960s counter-culture was not a fashion statement; it was a way of life. It looked at the boring establishment, the old-boys network, the stereotypical attire, the joyless lack of creativity, the conventions, religion, politics, blatant selfish greed, exploitation, inherent racism and sexism and looked to create something better. I was part of it.

We stood up for our ideals – the anti-war movement, liberation of sex, and the bringing of freedom and colour into a drab 1950s post-war society.

Then came Punk and the music went on and on and on……

On a creative front, having discovered that despite my passion, I have no talent for music, I went into the realm of writing.

In the 1970s the energy and creativity dropped out of the counter-culture. Earning a living loomed and I went into teaching where I stayed true to my ideals. I extolled the virtues of fun, freedom and the joy of creativity. I brought a bit of colour into the profession and did things my way. I must have been successful because I rose up to Headteacher and my school became one of the best in the country. It’s Open, Caring, Friendly ethos was mine and I proved it worked. If you treated young people respectfully and made learning fun everything would work. It did.

During the course of my teaching career I built up a large number of books. I wrote whatever took my fancy. I never wrote for financial gain or to get famous; I wrote what I was interested in, moved by or felt the urge to do. I produced Sci-Fi to alternative fiction and Rock biography and history – whatever I enjoyed. I always harboured a desire to make a living out of writing but was always more than content to be a teacher.

To be a teacher is a privilege. A teacher is the equivalent of the tribes shaman; the holder of wisdom, dispenser of knowledge. I was happy with that.

On the family front I fell in love when I was eighteen and married in a great event in the woods in 1971. We have been together ever since and have four very dynamic, individualistic and vibrant kids who are changing the world in their own ways. They fill me with great love and hope for the future. My five grandchildren are growing up and are enthusiastic, loving citizens of the world.

I believe in equality, tolerance, justice and freedom. I respect other people’s points of view and do not expect people to share the same beliefs as me. I work in my own way to produce a positive zeitgeist and would like to live in a world where there is harmony between people and respect for the environment.

I deplore violence, fanaticism, war, coercion and intolerance.

I love smiles, love, argument and beauty in all its many forms.

I am enraged and saddened by what we are doing to the natural world through the pressure of our numbers, pollution and destruction of habitat.

I now live in the North of England and continue writing and doing my bit to change the Zeitgeist.

Who Am I?

I am a prolific writer of Science Fiction, Rock Music and alternative style semi-autobiographical books and fiction. I have written 60 books. If you’re looking for something different then you have found it! Just buy one from Amazon and see!

 

My influences include Henry Miller, Jack Kerouac, Captain Beefheart, Allen Ginsberg, Christopher Hitchins, Roy Harper, Bob Dylan, Margaret Atwood, Woody Guthrie and Kurt Vonnegut Jnr.

 

I was born in 1949 in the Thames Delta in the deep South outside London. I grew up in the 1960s and was thoroughly immersed in the London scene and counter-culture. I was a student through all those heady days and lapped up the idealism and optimism of the times. We knew we were changing the world and bringing new sensibilities to bear. Those were the days that spawned feminism, the green movement, anti-capitalism and civil rights.

 

I was there through the whole gamut of Rock Music. As a kid I heard Little Richard on the radio and then there was the Beatles, Psychedelia and the London Underground, Acid Rock and the West Coast alternative culture, IT, OZ and a thriving Rock scene and cultural tsunami.

 

I got to see most of the important acts – Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Cream, Roy Harper, Captain Beefheart, Country Joe & the Fish, Muddy Waters, Pink Floyd, Son House and Bo Diddley – and hosts of others. I went to all the big festivals and events.

 

The 1960s counter-culture was not a fashion statement; it was a way of life. It looked at the boring establishment, the old-boys network, the stereotypical attire, the joyless lack of creativity, the conventions, religion, politics, blatant selfish greed, exploitation, inherent racism and sexism and looked to create something better. I was part of it.

 

We stood up for our ideals – the anti-war movement, liberation of sex, and the bringing of freedom and colour into a drab 1950s post-war society.

 

Then came Punk and the music went on and on and on……

 

On a creative front, having discovered that despite my passion, I have no talent for music, I went into the realm of writing.

 

In the 1970s the energy and creativity dropped out of the counter-culture. Earning a living loomed and I went into teaching where I stayed true to my ideals. I extolled the virtues of fun, freedom and the joy of creativity. I brought a bit of colour into the profession and did things my way. I must have been successful because I rose up to Headteacher and my school became one of the best in the country. It’s Open, Caring, Friendly ethos was mine and I proved it worked. If you treated young people respectfully and made learning fun everything would work. It did.

 

During the course of my teaching career I built up a large number of books. I wrote whatever took my fancy. I never wrote for financial gain or to get famous; I wrote what I was interested in, moved by or felt the urge to do. I produced Sci-Fi to alternative fiction and Rock biography and history – whatever I enjoyed. I always harboured a desire to make a living out of writing but was always more than content to be a teacher.

 

To be a teacher is a privilege. A teacher is the equivalent of the tribes shaman; the holder of wisdom, dispenser of knowledge. I was happy with that.

 

On the family front I fell in love when I was eighteen and married in a great event in the woods in 1971. We have been together ever since and have four very dynamic, individualistic and vibrant kids who are changing the world in their own ways. They fill me with great love and hope for the future. My five grandchildren are growing up and are enthusiastic, loving citizens of the world.

 

I believe in equality, tolerance, justice and freedom. I respect other people’s points of view and do not expect people to share the same beliefs as me. I work in my own way to produce a positive zeitgeist and would like to live in a world where there is harmony between people and respect for the environment.

 

I deplore violence, fanaticism, war, coercion and intolerance.

 

I love smiles, love, argument and beauty in all its many forms.

 

I am enraged and saddened by what we are doing to the natural world through the pressure of our numbers, pollution and destruction of habitat. I am saddened that so many simply do not care about the destruction of nature that is going on around the world and, for political reasons, deny what is so obviously taking place.

 

I want to see a compassionate society where the weak, the ill and needy are cared for.

 

I want to see a more equal society that looks after everybody. Where someone who is ill can get treatment, someone who is starving can get food, someone who is old is looked after and someone who is homeless is housed.

 

I now live in the North of England and continue writing and doing my bit to change the Zeitgeist.

 

I do not want to see a greedy, selfish society based on privilege – where the wealthy run things for their own benefit and many are left in desperation.

Who Am I – Country Joe and the Fish

This is one of those timeless songs that resonate down the years. The introspective recriminations, the wondering and impotence.

We really have to stand for what we believe in and fight for a better world.

Who am I
To stand and wonder, to wait
While the wheels of fate
Slowly grind my life away
Who am I?

There were some things that I loved one time
But the dreams are gone I thought were mine
And the hidden tears that once could fall
Now burn inside at the thought of all
The years of waste, the years of crime
Passions of a heart so blind;
To think that, but even still
As I stand exposed, my feelings are felt
And I cry into the echo of my loneliness

Who am I
To stand and wonder, to wait
While the wheels of fate
Slowly grind my life away
Who am I?

What a nothing I’ve made of life
The empty words, the coward’s plight
To be pushed and passed from hand to hand
Never daring to speak, never daring to stand
And the emptiness of my family’s eyes
Reminds me over and over of lies
And promises and deeds undone
And now again I want to run
But now there is nowhere to run to

Who am I
To stand and wonder, to wait
While the wheels of fate
Slowly grind my life away
Who am I?

And now my friend we meet again
We shall see which one will bend
Under the strain of death’s golden eyes
Which one of us shall win the prize
To live and which one will die
‘Tis I, my friend, yes ’tis I
Shall kill to live again and again
To clutch the throat of sweet revenge
For life is here only for the taking

Who am I
To stand and wonder, to wait
While the wheels of fate
Slowly grind my life away
Who am I? Who am I?

Country Joe and the Fish – Who am I?

I used to play this song over and over again when I was a kid. It seemed to sum up all the confusion and angst I was feeling. It suggested to me that life wasn’t worth living unless you stood up for your ideals and spoke your mind. There were moral decisions to be made and much that was right and needed speaking out for. To keep your head down and accept all the bad things going on around you without doing anything about it was to lose yourself and allow yourself to be ground down.

You had to make something of life. Life wasn’t about making money and having an easy time; it was about having integrity and trying to make the world a better place. If there was injustice, greed, selfishness and violence then there were causes worth speaking out against.

Who am I? I’m only a single person. Even if I’m a lone voice I have integrity. One has to have self-respect.

There is no time like the present to stand up and say what you think.

There are issues all around us – Brexit, Trump, War, environmental devastation, inequality, racism, sexism, misogyny. There are no shortage of laudable causes.

It is time to protest and make your voice heard. If you don’t do something about the things you love, the visions you hold – then they will die in you and you’ll become a zombie going through the motions.

There is a time to make a stand and that time is now.

“Who Am I?”

Who am I to stand and wonder, to wait
While the wheels of fate slowly grind my life away?
Who am I?

There were some things that I loved one time
But the dreams are gone I thought were mine
And the hidden tears that once could fall
Now burn inside at the thought of all
The years of waste, the years of crime
Passions of a heart so blind
To think that but even still
As I stand exposed, the feelings are felt
And I cry into the echo of my loneliness.

Who am I to stand and wonder, to wait
While the wheels of fate slowly grind my life away?
Who am I?

What a nothing I’ve made of life
The empty words, the coward’s plight
To be pushed and passed from hand to hand
Never daring to speak, never daring to stand
And the emptiness of my family’s eyes
Reminds me over and over of lies
And promises and deeds undone
And now again I want to run
But now there is nowhere to run to.

Who am I to stand and wonder, to wait
While the wheels of fate slowly grind my life away?
Who am I?

And now my friend we meet again
We shall see which one will bends
Under the strain of death’s golden eyes
Which one of us shall win the prize
To live and which one will die
‘Tis I, my friend, yes ’tis I
Shall kill to live again and again
To clutch the throat of sweet revenge
For life is here only for the taking.

Who am I to stand and wonder, to wait
While the wheels of fate slowly grind my life away?
Who am I?
Who am I?

Who am I? – I am Opher! – Opher Goodwin of Opher’s World!

IMG_6343

I am a prolific writer of Science Fiction, Rock Music and alternative style semi-autobiographical books and fiction. I have written 49 books. If you’re looking for something different then you have found it! Just buy one from Amazon and see!

My influences include Henry Miller, Jack Kerouac, Captain Beefheart, Allen Ginsberg, Christopher Hitchins, Roy Harper, Bob Dylan, Margaret Atwood, Woody Guthrie and Kurt Vonnegut Jnr.

I was born in 1949 in the Thames Delta in the deep South outside London. I grew up in the 1960s and was thoroughly immersed in the London scene and counter-culture. I was a student through all those heady days and lapped up the idealism and optimism of the times. We knew we were changing the world and bringing new sensibilities to bear. Those were the days that spawned feminism, the green movement, anti-capitalism and civil rights.

I was there through the whole gamut of Rock Music. As a kid I heard Little Richard on the radio and then there was the Beatles, Psychedelia and the London Underground, Acid Rock and the West Coast alternative culture, IT, OZ and a thriving Rock scene and cultural tsunami.

I got to see most of the important acts – Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Cream, Roy Harper, Captain Beefheart, Country Joe & the Fish, Muddy Waters, Pink Floyd, Son House and Bo Diddley – and hosts of others. I went to all the big festivals and events.

The 1960s counter-culture was not a fashion statement; it was a way of life. It looked at the boring establishment, the old-boys network, the stereotypical attire, the joyless lack of creativity, the conventions, religion, politics, blatant selfish greed, exploitation, inherent racism and sexism and looked to create something better. I was part of it.

We stood up for our ideals – the anti-war movement, liberation of sex, and the bringing of freedom and colour into a drab 1950s post-war society.

Then came Punk and the music went on and on and on……

On a creative front, having discovered that despite my passion, I have no talent for music, I went into the realm of writing.

In the 1970s the energy and creativity dropped out of the counter-culture. Earning a living loomed and I went into teaching where I stayed true to my ideals. I extolled the virtues of fun, freedom and the joy of creativity. I brought a bit of colour into the profession and did things my way. I must have been successful because I rose up to Headteacher and my school became one of the best in the country. It’s Open, Caring, Friendly ethos was mine and I proved it worked. If you treated young people respectfully and made learning fun everything would work. It did.

During the course of my teaching career I built up a large number of books. I wrote whatever took my fancy. I never wrote for financial gain or to get famous; I wrote what I was interested in, moved by or felt the urge to do. I produced Sci-Fi to alternative fiction and Rock biography and history – whatever I enjoyed. I always harboured a desire to make a living out of writing but was always more than content to be a teacher.

To be a teacher is a privilege. A teacher is the equivalent of the tribes shaman; the holder of wisdom, dispenser of knowledge. I was happy with that.

On the family front I fell in love when I was eighteen and married in a great event in the woods in 1971. We have been together ever since and have four very dynamic, individualistic and vibrant kids who are changing the world in their own ways. They fill me with great love and hope for the future. My five grandchildren are growing up and are enthusiastic, loving citizens of the world.

I believe in equality, tolerance, justice and freedom. I respect other people’s points of view and do not expect people to share the same beliefs as me. I work in my own way to produce a positive zeitgeist and would like to live in a world where there is harmony between people and respect for the environment.

I deplore violence, fanaticism, war, coercion and intolerance.

I love smiles, love, argument and beauty in all its many forms.

I am enraged and saddened by what we are doing to the natural world through the pressure of our numbers, pollution and destruction of habitat.

I now live in the North of England and continue writing and doing my bit to change the Zeitgeist.