BIO

A well-known radio personality in his native Liverpool --- as well as an actor, stand-up comic, and playwright --- Brian Jacques is the host of "Jakestown" on BBC Radio Merseyside. Ever the performer, Jacques is well-known for applying his acting and entertainment background to his lively presentations to legions of young fans at schools across the United States and England.

Brian Jacques was born in Liverpool, England on June 15th, 1939. Along with forty percent of the population of Liverpool, his ancestral roots are in Ireland, County Cork to be exact.

He grew up in the area around the Liverpool docks. His interest in adventure stories began at an early age with reading the books of: Daniel Defoe, Sir Henry Rider Haggard, Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Thomas Malory, Robert Michael Ballantyne, Robert Louis Stevenson, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and Kenneth Grahame. He attended St. John's School, an inner city school that had its playground on the roof. On his first day at St. John's, at the age of ten, he had an experience that marked his potential as a writer. When given an assignment of writing a story about animals, he wrote about the bird that cleaned a crocodile's teeth. The teacher could not, and would not, believe that a ten year old could write that well. When young Brian refused to falsely say that he had copied the story, he was caned as "a liar". He had always loved to write, but it was only then, that he realized that he had a talent for writing.

Some teachers at St. John's proved to be good role models. As Mr. Jacques recalls:

"My favourite teacher was Mr. Austin Thomas. He looked like Lee Marvin. Big Man. A Captain in World War II. He came to school on a big bush bike with the haversack on back. He was a man's man. Always fair. I was fourteen at the time when Mr. Thomas introduced the class to poetry and Greek literature. (Because of him, I saved seven shillings and sixpence to buy THE ILIAD and THE ODYSSEY at this dusty used book shop.)"

This interest in poetry extended to Wordsworth, Tennyson, and Goldsmith. It was also at St. John's that Brian met a teacher, Alan Durband (who also taught two Beatles, Paul McCartney and George Harrison), who, more than thirty years later would bring about a major change in his life.

After Brian finished school at fifteen, he set out to find adventure as a merchant seaman. He travelled to many far away ports, including New York, Valparaiso, San Francisco, and Yokohama. Tiring of the lonely life of a sailor, he returned to Liverpool where he worked as a railway fireman, a longshoreman, a long-distance truck driver, a bus driver, a boxer, a bobby (Police Constable 216D), a postmaster, and a stand-up comic.

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INTERVIEW

February 2004

Brian Jacques (pronounced "Jakes") is the popular British author of the Redwall books.

But REDWALL --- the first adventure about the brave mice of Redwall Abbey and their war against wicked rats --- was never intended to be a book. "I wrote the story as a read-aloud for blind children at a school nearby," he says. "I'd even get dressed up as Father Christmas in me cowboy boots and me big ten gallon hat to do it."

Two of Jacques' friends, the late Alan Durban and Willie Russell are the ones who suggested that he publish the stories and Jacques thought it was a great idea. When the first book was actually published he was very happy. "Wouldn't you be?" he says. "I was pleased, overjoyed. But I didn't think it was going to be anything huge. I already had seven small books of poetry published, so I was no stranger to publishing. I thought nice --- but small. Then it just sort of grew."  

Since then, he's written 10 books about Matthias, Martin the Warrior and the other creatures of Mossflower Wood. And when he isn't writing, Jacques also hosts a radio progam called "Jakestown" in Liverpool, England.  

But no matter how busy he is with his two careers, he always has time for kids. Children love Jacques. And Jacques loves children. "I get hundreds, maybe thousands of letters," he says."We answer them all. And I always add a personal P.S. and sign them all. But I like to get out and meet the readers --- the kids who have put me where I am today."

Some of Jacques' favorite fans live in the United States. "Redwall has been better received in the States than anywhere else in the world," he says. "It's captured the imaginations of children so vividly there. And in the States, children approach me with a kind of reverence."

One of Jacques' favorite memories was meeting eight-year-old Josh from Illinois. "I was in Illinois doing a festival in St. Charles. I was signing books the night before in a library when this little dot of a fella comes up to me. I said, what's your name lad? He said, 'I'm Josh, sir. And you'll be coming to my school tomorrow.' I said, Josh, that will be very nice. And he replied, 'I am to be your escort.'  I said, will you take care of me Josh? And Josh very seriously answered, 'Sir, I will protect you with my life.'"

Kids often ask Jacques if he is like any of the characters in his books. "Yes," he says. "In the book MOSSFLOWER, there is a little mouse called Gonff, the prince of mouse thieves. He's a good thief, full of fun, with a good heart. Gonff is probably most like me --- when I was a child. A survivor, that's what he is. And I was a survivor too."

Jacques did survive and went on to create a wonderful library of work. As of February 1998, there are ten novels in the series --- REDWALL, MOSSFLOWER, MATTIMEO, MARIEL OF REDWALL, SALAMANDASTRON, MARTIN THE WARRIOR, THE BELLMAKER, OUTCAST OF REDWALL, THE PEARLS OF LUTRA, and THE LONG PATROL. Fans might also want to check out the delicious-looking picture book, THE GREAT REDWALL FEAST.

The REDWALL MAP book lets kids explore the territory and landmarks of Redwall in lushly illustrated pull-out maps. There's also a special Redwall Riddler trivia and puzzle section-for fun.

Jacques also has two more Redwall books in the works. "MARLFOX is due for release next year," he says. "And I think the LEGEND OF LUKE will be next, because people are always asking me what happened to Luke (Martin the Warrior's dad) and I am beginning to wonder myself."  

Even a Redwall animated television series is in the works and maybe a full-length movie, too, based on MARTIN THE WARRIOR.

When people ask Jacques if he has any advice for kids, this is what he says: "Be good mice, don't be dirty rats. Remember, television can't take you places the way books can. So read, read, read." And for many intermediate readers, Redwall is the perfect place to start.

© Copyright 2004, Philomel Books, an imprint of Penguin Group. All rights reserved.

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