Tác giả: Nigel Quiney

Born in 1939 in West Dulwich, South London to a middle-class family, his earliest memories were of the blitz and bombing raids. When the V2 rockets were launched by the Nazis early in 1945 he was evacuated to Norfolk where he suffered homesickness and sadistic treatment from the resident matron. His schooling started happily but after winning a scholarship to Dulwich College he became increasingly unhappy and remote. He discovered that he was homosexual at the age of thirteen when the publicity surrounding the jailing of Lord Montague for homosexual offences was headline news. Spending his Easter and summer holidays at the family holiday home in East Dean he enjoyed a very close friendship with a boy his own age discovering the joys of living in the country. At sixteen, having failed all his “O” level exams except for English he joined his father”s business in the City importing wrapping paper. After working evenings in a coffee bar in the West End he met many gay men and subsequently discovered the underground world of gay bars and clubs. Aged twenty-one his mother discovered that he was gay but quickly came to accept the situation. Later Nigel sailed to the USA on the Queen Elizabeth for a three month trip where he fell into many exciting gay experiences as well as discovering the amazing country that he was exploring. Back in London he left home, had a tumultuous relationship with Gordon Heath the American actor/singer and when this eclipsed he began to create designs for gift-wrapping paper. These were rejected by his father”s partner to be included in their range of papers so Nigel started his own company and the designs were an immediate success selling around the world. He thoroughly enjoyed being a part of Swinging London and travelled abroad a great deal experiencing a wide variety of relationships and adventures, some dangerous and stimulating; sometimes hilarious. After his father died in 1969 Nigel discovered that his father”s partner had secretly re-drawn the company”s articles of association. On Nigel”s father”s death this removed the Quiney family”s control in the business and left his partner with the biggest share-holding; a major shock. Through the “seventies Nigel and his mother became very close and travelled around the world together enjoying an honest and frank relationship which allowed Nigel a freedom to enjoy his life as he saw fit knowing that his mother would always be supportive. It was also in this decade that Nigel experienced two love affairs that were ultimately doomed. These left him feeling very cynical about love. This decade also saw great expansion of the family business when Nigel realised that polythene products would ultimately replace many made of paper. This ended up with many travels to the Far East looking for supplies and a fascinating first trip to China when it was ruled by Chairman Mao. In the early “eighties, Nigel decided that his gift-wrapping business should expand into greeting cards and by then his exports were greater than his UK sales. In 1982 Nigel met David Evans, the man who would become his life partner. In the “nineties having successfully sold both his companies he retired and with his partner travelled the world and began to write these memoirs.