Living the Dream

Martin Chandler | 9:14am BST 01 September 2024

Published: 2024
Pages: 350
Author: Piesse, Ken
Publisher: Wilkinson Publishing
Rating: 3.5 stars

Ken Piesse’s name appears as author a number of times on my bookshelves, and in two of his other roles, those of book and memorabilia salesman on the one hand and publisher on the other, I have had regular dealings with him over a number of years. That much said I spent most of that time mispronouncing his surname, only learning fairly recently that it was “peace” rather than “PS” when I asked the man himself.

But now, his having chosen to publish an autobiography, I know all there is to know about Ken, or at least everything he has chosen to share with the world. This means that to start with I know that he has a long background in journalism as well as writing books, that he played both cricket and football to a decent standard and, perhaps the most admirable amongst his many qualities, the fact that he continues as an active sportsman as he approaches his seventieth birthday.

He has also, as the title to his book demonstrates, thoroughly enjoyed his life so far. There is no carping about the vicissitudes of life from Ken, who seems to have achieved just about everything he set out to achieve with the exception of his own ‘Baggy Green’, an ambition he finally realised he was never going to fulfil when he turned 52, two years older than Bert ‘Dainty’ Ironmonger was at the end of his final Test.

Despite being an autobiography Living the Dream is most certainly not one of those ‘all about me’ sort of books, and is all the better for it. Ken introduces his family, and tells the occasional story involving them, but in large part his book is about his passions for playing sport, writing about sport and most importantly the fascinating collection of characters he has encountered along the way.

And the importance of those meetings to the book is illustrated by one forming the basis of the very first chapter of the book proper, Meeting with a Hermit, where Ken tells the story of seeking out and chatting to former Australian fast bowler Alan ‘Froggie’ Thompson.  The Frog was by then living alone and wasn’t at all well, but still welcomed his guest. In some ways it is a sad start, albeit learning that the cricketing community had not completely forgotten ‘The Frog’ was a positive aspect. Most of the other encounters featured in the book are however much more upbeat.

Inevitable there are some interesting chapters for bibliophiles, particularly that dealing with Ken’s ghosting assignments over the years. Of particular interest is the reference to Terry Jenner. I would think that most people reading this review will recall ‘TJ’ for his role in honing the genius of Shane Warne, but in many ways he is more interesting by virtue of being a gambling addict who served a custodial sentence for offences of dishonesty.

There are a number of references to Ken’s other books, and in particular one of which he is clearly (and quite rightly) very proud, his 2018 published biography of Cec Pepper, Pep, and particularly the story of how, after the book’s publication, another son of Pepper’s read the book and subsequently reached out to Ken with new information.

Anyone writing an autobiography is, of course, entitled to blow their own trumpet to a certain extent and after the narrative has concluded Ken includes a selection of things that others have said of him, the stats from his own playing career and a most useful bibliography of his own books as well as those that he has published. This was a pleasure to read in part because it pointed me in the direction of a couple of Piesse titles I would like to acquire, but in the main because of the excellent news that not only does his Nostalgia series roll on, its next title will be a biography of a fascinating and elusive character from the 1920s, Karl Schneider.

Altogether Living the Dream is an absorbing read and a book that, naturally, appears in two forms. One is a trade paperback, and the other a signed and numbered limited edition of 200 hardbacks both of which are available directly from Ken