When good people fail to stand up for what they believe to be right, bad behaviour is provided with a golden opportunity to triumph! Into such environments, bullying is born and permitted to flourish. The silent observer who declines to challenge the bully's behaviour - the reluctant witness who refuses to testify - anyone who fails to stand alongside the victim, becomes the bully's accomplice! Bullies are cowardly people and they need silent accomplices to observe their dominance over their victim. They never walk alone. Bullies feed upon the fear of their victims. They feel big when you let them make you feel small. Their aim is to elevate their own stature in the eyes of others by putting you down. They hate resistance and they rarely try to victimise anyone who they believe will fight back. Being prepared to stand up to a bully is often enough to prevent the bully putting you down! There are three types of people involved in the process of 'bullying'. There is the bully, the person being bullied and the people observing the bullying. Wherever bullying continues to exist, all three types remain victims of their role. Many fail to understand that almost all bullies have, at sometime, in their own lives been the victim of bullying and they are attempting to replicate the immense feeling of 'power' that dominating the victim brings to the bully. Power carries with it the responsibility to ensure that no individual experiences the indignity of being rendered powerless. It was this concept and the inspiration of my son, William, which led me to write Maw. The name 'Maw' was also a name of endearment that all of the Forde family gave to my dear mother when she lived, it being an abbreviation of her name Maureen. This story was first published in 1994. It was due to be read to the pupils of 'R. M. Grylls Middle School', Hightown, Liversedge, West Yorkshire by the late Roy Castle. Due to his illness before he died, the legendary, international footballer, John Charles read in Roy's stead, and the television magician, Paul Daniels kindly recorded an abridged version of the book. The story of 'Maw' is suitable for any reader over 8 years. It is written in the style of the 1950s when the sport of boxing and football tended to dominate the world of growing boys and some girls. Because its story theme focuses on the sport of boxing and football, some girls may not feel it to be suitable for them. Maw is born exceptionally small and enters secondary school life to face the school bully. He confronts the bully and challenges him to a boxing match. On the very start of his fourteenth year of life, Maw makes a wish upon a shooting star and from that moment, his life changes. He awakes with super human powers, but quickly learns that with all power comes a responsibility to discharge such power humanely. Later, the school loses its striker from the football team at the semi- final stage of the School League Football Cup and Maw is asked to stand in as the striker. A super story told in the adventure style of writing that was more common in the 40s and 50s.
About the Author: William Forde was born in Ireland and lives in Haworth, West Yorkshire, England with his wife Sheila. He has 5 children and is the author of 64 published books and 2 musical plays which are now available as Ebooks. One of West Yorkshire's most popular children's authors, his books were publicly read in over 2000 Yorkshire school assemblies by over 800 famous names and celebrities from the realms of Royalty, Film, Stage, Screen, Politics, Church, Sport between 1990 and 2002. The late Princess Diana read his earlier books to her then young sons, William and Harry. The late Nelson Mandela once phoned him to praise an African storybook he wrote. Others who have supported his works include 3 Princesses, 3 Prime Ministers, 2 Presidents and numerous Bishops of the realm. Former Chief Inspector of Schools for Ofsted, the late Chris Woodhead described his writings to the press as 'high quality literature.' Always at the forefront of change, he became the youngest Youth Leader and Trade Union Shop Steward in Great Britain at 18. In 1971, he founded Anger Management in Great Britain and freely gave his courses to the world. In the next 2 years, Anger Management courses mushroomed across the English-speaking world. In the mid-70s, he introduced Relaxation Training into HM Prisons. Between 1970 and 1995, he worked as a Probation Officer specialising in Relaxation Training, Anger and Stress Management, and Assertive Training Group Work introducing Relaxation Training groups into HM Prisons and many other establishments. He retired early due to ill health in 1995 to further his writing career. This led him to work with the Minister of Youth and Culture in Jamaica establishing a trans-Atlantic pen-pal project between 64 primary schools in Falmouth, Jamaica and Yorkshire. William was awarded the MBE in the 1995 New Year's Honours List for services to West Yorkshire. He has never sought to materially profit from the publication of his books and all profit from their sales (approx £200,000 between 1990 and 2002) were given to charity. His latest stories are romantic and are published for adults under the generic title of "Tales from Portlaw". However, his last two books have been 'strictly for adult' novels set in Northern England, where he has lived most of his life. In 2013, William Forde had chemotherapy to treat CLL. In 2017 he started another course of chemotherapy for high-grade Lymphoma (Richter's transformation from CLL).