Paul H SimmonsPaul Hume Simmons was born in llford, Essex in 1957. After leaving Brentwood School in 1976 he had a brief spell at the University of Southampton, studying French and Spanish, but left to work in the City of London: at the Swiss Bank Corporation (nowUBS) and later on at the investment Company, Henderson Administration (now Janus Henderson).He moved from Shenfield to Coggeshall in 1979 and attended the University of Essex, gaining a degree in English (Literature) in 1984. He married and had two daughters with his wife Marion and now has two grandchildren. In 1986 the family moved to Kelvedon, a village near Colchester and Paul still lives there, his wife passing away in 2013 from motor neurone disease. He worked more locally for 27 years for Essex County Council, latterly with the Music Service, retiring in 2016. Mental illness has unfortunately been a major feature in Paul's life and in 2018 he trained as a mentor with the charity Futures in Mind (sponsored by MIND) where he volunteered for a few years.He started writing poetry, on and off, some 15 years ago, which led to his previous publications, and has enjoyed attending a poetry group in Maldon for many years, and more recently with the U3A in Stanway, Colchester. Read More Read Less