Larry Winger, resident in the East Allen valley for the past 30+ years. I did my local stints reviewing music gigs in Allendale Town, as District Correspondent at the Hexham Courant, volunteering at Allendale Village Hall & Recreation Ground in a variety of capacities, working as a baker’s boy at Allendale Bakery, and now I’m trying to settle in, probably more dis- than gracefully, to a prolonged retirement.
I’m Larry Winger, retired scientist, community-minded diarist, and now a writer in various genres: blogs; fiction; poetry; memoir.
I was fascinated with the writing and organising involved in AllendaleDiary.org, but I was also delighted when the documentation of a year in the life of a Northumbrian community came to a natural end. Since then, I’ve been working on various writing projects, particularly on the novel front, as documented at BiomeNE47.com
What I Do
Writer
Vintage Hymer enthusiast
DIY fixer-upper
Searcher after happiness
Past Experiences
Research Scientist
1975-2007
Gosh, it seems like quite an extended career, from graduate student to perennial postdoc and eventually let go by the age of 55. I started out in human cellular immunology, moving on to malaria parasitology, and then to clinical immunochemistry. I was so fortunate to be employed in a postdoc capacity for so long; postdocs are the scientists who do the actual work in the laboratory, don’t you know! I loved it.
Trustee, Chair, of Allendale Village Hall & Recreation Ground
(2004 – 2017)
What an opportunity to serve the community! I loved every moment of it, even when I was the caretaker, bartender, secretary, executive treasurer, renovation manager, grants organiser, audiovisual expert, demolition labourer. AVH&RG is a real community resource, and I’m that proud to have helped out there.
Writer
(2019-2022)
Who’d have thought that my full-time ‘job’ would be to create a year-long diary, a couple of novels (with two more pending), a series of poems, short stories and memoirs, and several blogs? Not me, but it’s certainly an energising experience. Meanwhile, I hope this particular ‘Roads to Joy’ blog will provide a space for many of the feelings (from sad to happy) that are experienced in this particular rural idyll.
Roads to Joy 