The Chair Man: Life and times of John Lee, a Romany gypsy

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The son of a Romany gypsy mother and a French travelling salesman, the young John Lee was regarded as an outcast because of his mixed blood. He would never be able to marry a gypsy girl, or live on a gypsy site after the death of his grandparents who brought him up.

His much-loved Italian grandmother taught him to cane chairs and at thirteen earn a living from them on the streets of London. At seventeen, and after his one and only day at school, he became a waiter on a cruise ship. Unable to read or write until he was thirty five, John succeeded in running a successful building company and, later, seven fruit and vegetable shops. Then came the Lloyd’s of London crash and he lost everything.

Caning chairs on London’s King’s Road one day, he met Jennifer, a wealthy woman who changed his life.

This is a story full of humour, of sadness and one man’s feisty loyalty to his Romany traditions.