Continuing the series about getting to know our lovely colleagues, next up are Manus & your very own Blog admin, Sam…
If you’d like to submit your answers to the Q+A, fill out the template and send it to library.innovation@sussex.ac.uk, or get in touch with the Blog admins – Kate, Kerry & Sam…
We’d like to include a brief biography before the Q+A. To help with this, could you tell us, in a couple of sentences, where you’re from, where you live now, and a little bit about your working life so far…
I was born in Gateshead in 1956 , my father was from County Donegal , Ireland and like all his family hired himself out at the Hiring Fairs in Letterkenny and Strabane to work the fields which led him to Scotland then Newcastle. My mother’s heritage was Sligo/Galway and Northampton. My Northampton grandfathers family made and mended shoes around Northants and the surrounding counties but somehow found themselves in Newcastle in 1903 all fourteen of them 2 adults and 12 children. I’m happy to be described as Geordie, Irish or mongrel take your pick.
I’ve worked as all sorts of things demolition, hod carrying, Post Office, horse whisperer.
What’s your favourite part of the library?
There’s a certain chair in the staff room
Tell us about your journey into work.
I drive in but I have walked, run and cycled in the past
What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen or heard in the library?
The ghost in the South Basement.
Which book/film/album changed your life?
A TV programme in the 60s called Mr Ed (the talking horse). I learned valuable language skills.
What is the worst job you’ve ever done? (Careful…)
Demolition with a mighty weekly wage of £11.50 a week was fun especially when you were 60ft off the ground and dismantling your only way back down. But I spent 3 days selling double glazing in 1979 and that was the worst by far we were door knocking and expected to provide openings for the “closer” to come and finalise the deal. A lovely old couple invited me in for tea and showed me family photographs they were very naïve and would have signed anything so I told them it was all a con and to train the dog to bite anyone who said double glazing.
What do you feel most proud of, in your work here?
Providing support for students with disabilities
If you could go back in time, where would you go?
I would go to my grandparents wedding in Donegal in 1924 they passed away in 1940 and 1948 so I never got to meet them.
Also I would go back to 1970 and visit the Twisted Wheel (all-night dance club) in Manchester and dance to some Soul Sounds as I was just too young to go as it closed in January 1971)
How do you relax?
With family, wine, meditation, Soul music, walking.
What keeps you awake at night?
Insomnia usually
Who would play you in the film of your life?
Plug ( from the Bash Street Kids )
We’d like to include a brief biography before the Q+A. To help with this, could you tell us, in a couple of sentences, where you’re from, where you live now, and a little bit about your working life so far…
I was born in London (Shepherds Bush), and came to university here in 1996 (less English Lit. than East Slope bar…). Worked in bookshops & record stores before joining the Library in 2008, working in FLS, Collection Development, and now Content Delivery.
What’s your favourite part of the library?
Why, the entry gates, of course!
But seriously: I’ve always been fond of the Bs, and was always notoriously quick to grab the one trolley of top-floor shelving…
Tell us about your journey into work.
Either a 10-minute train journey with a podcast, or a feverish attempt to overtake Sean (a.k.a. the Library Chris Froome) on my bike when the weather’s fair enough.
What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen or heard in the library?
The sound of the pigeons mating behind my desk is a seasonal delight, but I’ll have to go with stumbling across some similar (human) behaviour in the North Basement…
Which book/film/album changed your life?
Book: too many to mention, so I’ll opt for ‘Jesus’ Son’ by Denis Johnson on sheer re-readability.
Film: ‘Jaws’. I still can’t swim anywhere without hearing those two notes.
Album: QOTSA’s ‘Songs for the Deaf’ taught me that loud = good. (Janelle Monae’s ‘Dirty Computer’ gets a shout out as a current life-changing obsession…)
What is the worst job you’ve ever done? (Careful…)
I lasted less than 5 hours manning the broiler at Burger King when I was 18. I threw up in the kitchen, was fired, and got a job working at McDonald’s two weeks later.
What do you feel most proud of, in your work here?
Turning it off, then turning it back on again.
If you could go back in time, where would you go?
Band practice a few years back, to tell younger, stupider me to wear earplugs.
How do you relax?
Wine, books, movies, music, wine, books, movies, music, wine…
What keeps you awake at night?
The endless void, just like everybody else, amiright?!
Who would play you in the film of your life?
I’ve been compared to both Pete Townsend and Ewan MacGregor (!) in my time, but I’m sure that, when his playing days are over and he moves to Los Angeles, Harry Kane will be in with a shout…