On Friday August 25, writer and local resident David Gary met with Royal Haslar residents  at Canada House for a reading and meet-the-author session, organised by Sarah Veal, owner of The Book Shop, in Lee-on-the-Solent.
 
A sequel to the acclaimed ‘An Incident on the Gosport Ferry’, David’s new book, ‘Under One Gosport Roof’, is a wry take on what happens when a retired couple decide to separate while still sharing the same home, and their forays into the world of online dating.  
 
David read extracts from both books, as well as his two works of local history and anecdotes, ‘Going Over the Water: Memories of the Gosport Ferry’, and ‘Memories of Haslar’, which he co-compiled with Eric Birbeck, and shared how he researches his books.  
 
David grew up in Basingstoke before joining the Royal Navy, serving for ten years in the Writer branch, and went on to have several other careers, including running a smallholding in Devon and writing for the Costa Brava Resident magazine while living in Spain for eight years. He now lives in Gosport and uses the town as a theme to unite all his works. 
 
Having been sent to Royal Haslar for a cracked coccyx in his youth, he has an enduring personal connection with the site. “When the place was sold, I felt that there was a need to express the feelings of people that either worked there or were treated there. The building housed staff that often changed people’s lives, and those memories were in danger of being forgotten.”
 
David confides he is now working on a follow-up to ‘Under One Gosport Roof’, with its two principal characters – spoiler alert - forced back together by circumstances, with the setting a Saga cruise. 

Copies of both David's Gosport books are available to borrow from the Residents' Library or can be purchased in person and online from The Book Shop, Lee On The Solent.
 

David Gary with Royal Haslar residents and with The Book Shop, Lee On The Solent, owner Sarah Veal.