Kate Myall was born in Heworth, Gateshead, in 1929. Her father was an artisan painter and decorator, finding work at the shipyards of the north east of England, turning newly built ocean liners into exotic floating palaces. He was a socialist and trade unionist and was often laid off as a troublemaker. So Kate’s early years were often hard, and money was tight. On the other hand, her mother was exceptionally clever at making ends meet and could always put food on the table even when the cupboards were bare.

One of Kate’s first jobs was in a bookshop in Newcastle, where she was encouraged to read the books whilst the owners of the shop recommended reading lists for her. She enjoyed her time working there, and I think that it was here that she first fell in love with “words”.

Following her time at the bookshop, she undertook nursery nurse training specialising in language development, helping very young children to communicate.

After marrying and bringing up a family, of which I was one member, she went into teaching in infant and junior schools, again specialising and using her knowledge of words, but this time, it was reading that took her interest. She helped many youngsters who had difficulties reading and writing. Kate used a variety of techniques, which depended upon the needs of the child. It was a “person-centred approach” long before it ever became a phrase.

She finished her working career by almost completing a full circle, training nursery nurses in child development with specialist skills in language development and reading. It was only after retirement in her seventies that thoughts of writing a novel began to emerge.

She joined a writing group that encouraged her to pursue her ideas, and she began to write a novel. The group also wrote poetry and short stories. Kate was prolific! The novel was a 19th-century family saga, and there was interest in it being published.

In 2019, following a prolonged illness, she passed away, and since then, her works have sat on a hard drive waiting for a breath of wind to bring them back to life.