Jem Shaw

Jem became fascinated by words in a small primary school in Sutton Coldfield and by the age of five and a half had consumed all of the available Dick and Dora stories and moved onto a child's edition of Homer's Odyssey.

His love affair with aviation came a little earlier. Brought up close to Castle Bromwich aerodrome in the early post-war years, he would pursue his father and elder brother into the back garden to watch Spitfires, Walruses and, later on, Vampires and Venoms as they swept over the chimneys.

Nowadays he spends as much as possible of his time in and around venerable aircraft, including several enjoyable years with Mike Collet's Classic Flight. It was during this time that he organised several air displays, culminating in his directing the Vulcan's Farewell to the Sky event.

So given these ingredients it's pretty inexcusable that he passed the age of sixty before it occurred to him to put them together and produce a few books.

He lives in Staffordshire with his long-suffering wife and enjoys the peace that results when the kids grow up and leave home.