“Henry Disney’s is, to borrow a phrase, a beautiful mind, and also a tough mind.” So wrote Kitty Ferguson in her review of his sixth collection. This eighth collection of poems reinforces this perception.
The topics covered reflect varied experience, distinguished contributions to science and a deep commitment to Christian values and perceptions.
This collection of stirring verses gathers into a single volume previously unpublished poems primarily concerned with musings about the author’s Christian faith–a faith which is neither facile nor sentimental–a faith which is less concerned with abstract doctrine than with living out the Gospel in every day living and in how one relates to the variety of people one encounters. Topics include family life, human nature, politics, an earnest faith and a variety of poignant situations. These poems ranging from a few verses to more lengthy pieces are all sincerely and skilfully crafted, and are designed to enrich, edify and empower. The verses are as challenging as ever, and they cover the poet’s varied experience and encounters with a diversity of people. These poems shine a critical, but compassionate, light on contemporary people and events. These poems are, to borrow a phrase “from a beautiful mind, and also a tough mind."
The author is a Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge and author of more than 550 scientific publications. He served on the planning authority for the Yorkshire Dales National Park, and is co-founder and co-editor of the acclaimed Naturalists' Handbooks series. Otherwise he is a father and grandfather. All the above and more are reflected in these skilfully crafted and sometimes thought provoking poems.
This eighth collection of poems by Henry Disney is intended as an In Memoriam for his wife, Audrey, who died unexpectedly in 2012. The title is taken from Jean Holloway's great hymn - LORD, WE COME TO ASK YOUR HEALING, TEACH US OF LOVE.
Henry Disney was born in Dorset in 1938. From the age of 3-7 the War resulted in himself and two sisters being separated from their parents, who were stuck in the Sudan. On leaving school in 1957 he did his National Service in the Royal Artillery, becoming a bombardier on active service in Cyprus before becoming a subaltern on Salisbury Plain. He then read Natural Sciences at Cambridge University (with a part I in zoology, botany and geology and a part II in zoology). He was then Assistant Warden of the Flatford Mill Field Centre in Suffolk, mainly teaching field zoology. On marrying the Centre’s secretary, Audrey, they were obliged to leave for a lack of married accommodation. He was then the Medical Entomologist at the Dermal Leishmaniasis Research Unit in British Honduras (Belize), employed by the Ministry of Overseas Development. His research was mainly on the ecology of sandflies (Phlebotominae) and mammals in relation to a parasitic infection contracted by people working in the rainforest. He returned to Bristol University to study for a Certificate in Education. He then joined the Overseas Staff of the Medical Research Council as the Medical Entomologist at the Helminthisasis Research Unit in Cameroon. His work was mainly on the ecology of blackflies (Simuliidae) in relation to river blindness (Onchocerciasis). Having produced three children, each born on a different continent, he and Audrey returned to Britain; where from 1971-1984 he was Director of the Field Centre and National Nature Reserve at Malham Tarn in North Yorkshire. He also carried out research on the natural history [...]
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