GORDON HENDERSON
About
Considering his background, books and writing have always been important to Gordon Henderson.
He was born in Brompton Military Hospital in 1948 and is a proud 'Man of Kent'. His love of Kent is as strong today as it was when he was growing up in the ‘Garden of England’.
Gordon’s early life was spent in the Medway Towns, where he grew up on the Wayfield council estate in Chatham. In post Second World War Britain there was still rationing and much privation. For a kid from a working-class family, there was little enough money for food, let alone books.
Gordon’s birth mother died of Leukaemia when he was six years old, and his sister and he were sent to live with his aunt, uncle, and three cousins, who also lived in a council house in Wayfield. There were two adults and five children living in a three-bedroom house. Today, such an arrangement would be considered overcrowding, but back then it was the norm. There were no books in the house and no great desire to have any.
When Gordon was 11 years old his dad remarried, and his sister and he moved back to live with him and their new mum. At last Gordon had his own bedroom and that Christmas he was given, as a present, his first book to read. It Just William by Richmal Crompton. More books followed and he became an avid reader, often reading late into the night, using a torch to read because his parents insisted his bedroom light was switched off.
Gordon failed the Eleven Plus, so missed a grammar school education, instead attending Fort Luton Secondary Modern School for Boys. Because his Eleven Plus result was borderline, he was placed in what was called the X Stream. It was during his time at Fort Luton that he discovered a talent for writing, developed a love of words and the structure of sentences. That love has stayed with him and shines through in his writing.
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​Gordon left school at 16 and went to work for Woolworths. Shortly after, he bought his first adult novel: The Ipcress File, by Len Deighton. He was hooked and has been a lover of Deighton ever since. He also started writing short stories and had a spy story published in the Woolworths’ house magazine.
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He stayed with Woolworths for 15 years, ending up as a store manager in London. After Woolworths he moved to South Africa, where he owned a restaurant. On his return to the UK Gordon had a variety of jobs, including with GEC Avionics, Unwins Wine Group, and Beams International. In 2010 he was elected as the Member of Parliament for Sittingbourne and Sheppey.
During his working life Gordon continued to write short stories and full length novels, most of which were never published. Four books have been published: Pigeon Pie And Other Tasty Tales (a volume of short stories); Operation Seal Island; The Mandela Project; and Steven Statton – A Very Working-Class Spy.
Gordon is now a full time writer
Books
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