Behind and beyond the letters

The name Cliff Slade will be instantly recognised as a frequent and indefatigable correspondent to the Letters to the Editor columns.

This book is written in the first person, as being most appropriate for someone who is speaking directly to his audience.

This is a very personal journey in letters. It is touching and different insofar as it provides detailed insight into the life and mind of a man, the author, his relationships with his family and his take on local society, business, and politics.

This is accomplished through the sharing of letters, only some of which have previously been published.

However, this is not just a book of letters, along the lines of `The Times Great Letters' as there is depth, emotion, pain, laughter, joy, sadness, and a progressive personal and emotional journey of accomplishment and enlightenment.

Each correspondence is introduced, and most have accompanying explanations and information about the background and reason for each of the letters that have been included. Beginning with what motivated his writing, he reflects on his upbringing by delving into his childhood and the reasons that explain why he finds it easier to communicate through the written word, rather than verbally. An excellent sense of humour is clearly evident in the self-depreciatory letters written to the paper under a pseudonym and in his letters to himself.

The account of when the author met his wife and their marriage, ups and downs and all, along with his thoughts about life as a parent and his children, is very touching in its openness and honesty.

He doesn't claim celebrity status and claims to be from an ordinary walk of life.

In this remarkable book, Cliff shares his life and part of himself with the audience with a great deal of emotion.

With an auto-biographical narrative, we are regularly moved from tears to amusement and back again.