A short biography of Bernard Crix

I was born in London in 1934, the youngest son of a lay preacher. I was evacuated at the outbreak of World War II but was back in London in time for the blitz. In 1942 we moved to Ipswich in Suffolk for the rest of the war. When I left school, I did National Service, then studied at Durham University. A short spell as a salesman was followed by a long career in education. Involved in the United Nations Association I was Chairman of the National Youth Committee. It was through UNA that I met Pat Dodds and we married in 1961. It was my interest in UNA that led me, after our first child David was born in 1964, to take a teaching job in East Africa and that was where Peter was born. After four years in Africa, we returned to this country, Still working with schools, I moved into staff development and then school development. Alan Ladbrooke and I wrote three books for educational managers published in the Financial Times Management series. I was involved in counselling as a a volunteer and, for a while, was Director of the a branch of the Samaritans. Pat and I divorced in 1983. I was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in 1999, married Ann Jenrick soon after. I survived and we live in a Victorian school house in Essex. I am a keen photographer and was awarded the Licentiate of the Royal Photographic Society in 2002. I completed Eight Families in 2009 and Not Just Another Birthday in 2011.