Alf Wight
Photo: The World of James
Herriot

ANYONE who laughed till they cried at the novels of 'James Herriot' will be fascinated to attend a 'Meet the Authors' event in aid of cancer research at a Skipton hotel on Wednesday (7 March).

Jim Wight's touching and poignant biography 'The Real James Herriot' provides an inspiring and heartwarming look at the man behind the bestselling books that touched so many lives.

No one is better poised to write the biography of James Herriot than the son who worked alongside him in the Yorkshire Dales veterinary practice when Herriot became an internationally bestselling author.

In the biography of his father, Jim Wight ventures beyond the man's life as a veterinarian to reveal the character behind the stories - the private individual who refused to allow fame and wealth to interfere with his practice or his family. With access to all of his father's papers, correspondence, manuscripts and photographs along with his own intimate recollections of the farmers, locals, and friends who populate his father's books, only Jim Wight could write this definitive biography of the man who was not only his father but his best friend.

Jim Wight was born in 1943 and followed in his father's footsteps at the Glasgow Veterinary College, graduating in 1966. In 1967 he joined the practice of Sinclair and Wight in Thirsk, working alongside his father and Donald Sinclair (aka Siegfried Famon) for the next twenty years, when Alf Wight retired. He is still a member of the practice.

Detailed and thorough...the real-life models for the colorful characters and incidents in the Herriot
books

New York Times Book Review

The New York Times Book Review commented of his biography: "Detailed and thorough...the real-life models for the colorful characters and incidents in the Herriot books are lovingly explained throughout, making the book feel like an earnest 'making of' documentary".

Jim will be speaking at the Meet the Authors dinner at the Rendezvous Hotel on Wednesday from 7.30pm and on Thursday 8 March, at 12.30pm.

Tickets are priced at £24 and £22 respectively which includes a three course meal, with proceeds going to support Cancer Research.

Contact Christine on 01756 700100 at The Rendezvous, or Joan Laprell on 01422 883710, for more details.