EDNEY – A Life Of Rhyme

Description

My maternal grandfather, Edney Forward, recorded eleven one-hour audio cassette tapes totalling 260 poems and stories, starting in 1980 through to 1996. Although I don’t remember him reciting poetry, I do remember sitting on his knee as a tot in front of a roaring log fire in the living room of my grandparent’s Launceston home as he told stories. Listening to his signature denture whistle transported me back in time, now forever captured in those recordings for generations to come.

Many of the poems were inspired by his observations through his lounge room window of his George Town house that overlooked the Tamar River in northern Tasmania, with the lighthouse at Low Head and Bass Strait beyond in the far distance. The water and winds, ships and yachts, birds and other wildlife, his house and garden, all feature prominently, along with the changing mood and colours of the weather and seasons.

I have Roy Forward – Edney’s first son – to thank for coining my catchphrase of Storytelling is in his blood, because through Margaret – Edney’s only daughter – his blood indeed flows through my veins.