Life's best medicine

Local books by Fred Hughes

THEY say there’s a book in all of us, it’s just a matter of writing it. It is also said that if you can laugh in the face of adversity then your life will be long and your troubles few. Former Port Vale groundsman Denis Dawson has achieved both measures by publishing many humorous episodes from a very interesting life.

‘Laughter is Life’s Best Medicine’ is Denis’s collection of true stories from his former workplaces, including his long service with Stoke-on-Trent Parks Department. All the anecdotal stories are brought to life in fond narrative, and although names have been changed or excluded completely, there’s no doubt that anyone reading Denis’s stories will recall similar characters or even know them though their disguises.
This is a splendid book packed with hilarious reminiscences: the ghost of Rownhall Farm and ‘shocking’ tales of gravediggers complement social events and quirky procedures from a time that is almost forgotten. Perhaps most interesting for many readers will be the stories connected to Port Vale where Denis was groundsman during the career of manager Sir Stanley Matthews whom he knew well. Names of long-forgotten players abound in the witty and sometime racy text, making a fast-flowing read. He recalls the familiar cash-flow situation within the club. There was an occasion when his wife complained that he had taken the lock from the garden shed to secure the gate at Vale Park. Like everybody who loved Port Vale, Denis loved the club as if it were a member of his family. There were hard times and sad times, yes, but the humour outdoes the gloom.

This is a bumper book of fun. It is one of those volumes that make you laugh out loud and feel better for it.

I’m not going to spoil it by giving away punchlines or naming those who prefer anonymity, but those who know Port Vale will instantly recall the famous trainer who always used the word ‘fizzing’ instead of another, better-known expletive. Denis tells of the occasion when the trainer accused a lead-swinging player of labouring an injury. The player, after missing training for a few games, explained that he thought his left leg was much better. “We’re getting there,” he said. “Fizzing well getting there, fizzing well getting there. My friend I’ve suspected for some time that you were conning this club and today I’ve not touched your injured leg. You fizzing cheat, get out of here now before I fizzing well kick you out.”

As Denis explains, there was more fizzing in the treatment room than in any fizzing mineral factory!

Go treat yourself to a dose of laughing medicine and buy this book £4.95 from Denis Dawson (email Local Edition for contact)