About the Author

Richard Bothway Howard and Sue Smart were colleagues on the staff of Gresham's School in Holt when the idea of this book was suggested to them. Richard was infected at an early age by his father Norman's (also born in 1904!) obsession with George Formby. In 2004, to mark his centenary, Richard researched a programme for BBC Radio, George Formby's Norfolk. The coincidences that occurred during the making of the programme have continued whilst researching material for the book. Sue read Modern History at St Anne's College, Oxford, and is interested in social history and writing, so they put their resources together to fulfil a dream of Ted Formby's. He asked them to 'put the record straight' about his elder brother George. They have been delighted, with the help of the family archive, to do just that. And they thought they might tell George Formby senior's story while they were about it. Richard and Sue live in pretty North Norfolk villages, not far from George's second home on the Broads. Richard spends his time restoring vintage and classic cars, while Sue, after teaching history for over thirty years, is busy investigating life in early modern Holt.