Bruce Harris Books

Many writers are adamant, and rightly so, that creative people should be properly paid for their work, and generally speaking, I entirely agree with that, and especially if they are young and starting out on their careers. As the picture indicates clearly enough, I am not. I didn’t start writing seriously until early retirement in my mid-fifties, and my motivation was more about keeping my brain active as the years went by than making lots of money.

Like everyone else, what I spend my money on is my business, but the significance of Huntington’s Disease in my life has meant that I tend to take a slightly different attitude to where the money goes than others might.

My late partner died in September 2023 after a long, wasting illness. Huntington’s Disease is a monster, even by the standards of known illnesses; it  causes a gradual but thorough mental and physical collapse, and there is not, as yet, any known cure.

I’ve found that using the proceeds from books to donate to charities is not generally seen as an orthodox method; the charities themselves seem to be obsessed with physical fund-raising efforts such as long sponsored walks and charity swims etc. It might be worth their while to think about not excluding, by this method, older people who want to express their support. Artistic and creative effort is every bit as valid as physical effort, and many charities would benefit, I suspect, from giving their older supporters a chance to contribute in ways more appropriate to them.