Joan Langrick is an eighty two year’s old great grandmother who has “scribbled” from a very early age and is now a keen blogger on Facebook. She is widely travelled and her articles, poems and short stories have been regularly published in various newspapers and magazines throughout the British Isles. Although she is a white, English woman she has also worked for Afro Caribbean newspapers because as she says, “We can all gain so much when we come to understand through sharing each other’s experiences” This same vision of reaching out, is not limited to experiencing other cultures, because Joan also passionately believes our country’s present perceived generation divide is a tragedy on both sides. “Although, I suffered terribly, as a child, when I was evacuated during the war” she says, “I believe youngsters of today are suffering far more than I did then. Yesterday we knew our enemy whilst today youngsters are constantly being bombarded by covert, adult predators eager to exploit them in every possible way. Now, more than ever before we “golden oldies” are needed to be humble enough to listen and learn from what the younger generation have to say and then, with our own (hopefully) learned wisdom and experience suggest ways of handling this thing called life” This great grandmother is proud of all her off-springs and is today more especially so as her very talented grandson, Jamie Gare’s artwork is illustrating her “Just a thought” article. Surely proof positive that young and old really can work together in a sometimes cynical and divisive world.
Joan Langrick
Photo by David Johnson
By Jamie Gare