He said: “I was given a poem by a fireman who was at Hillsborough.
“The librarian in me kicked in and I thought ‘why not put out the call for more’, because so many people were touched by it.
“We created an archive and ended up with more than 1,000 pieces of poetry and prose.”
A small collection of those works, simply titled Words of Tribute, had three sell-out print runs. The possibility of a 20th anniversary edition is being mooted.
He moved on in the early 1990s to become a writing officer, organising writing and poetry workshops, exchanges and readings.
Moving on to arts development officer, and then manager, the most exciting times were still to come.
He said: “I never imagined when I sat in the Municipal Buildings, in June, 1975, I would be part of the team involved in the city’s 800th birthday celebrations and then being part of something which is not going to come to this city again in my lifetime.”
