Hugh Walters: Newspaper articles

The Bilston & Willenhall Times
2nd Mar 1957

Bilston Rotary Club Bulletin
8th Mar 1957

Birmingham Post
12th Mar 1957

Express & Star
12th Mar 1959

Express & Star
6th Aug 1960

Walsall Observer
30th Sep 1960

Express & Star
13th Jan 1962

Double life of a church warden Walter and the appliance of science		Walter Hughes with some of his science fiction books for children. In the background is St Leonard's Church, Bilston, where he is a church warden.		In one of the books he put Venus in the wrong position and was inundated with letters. More recently he introduced girls into his stories after complaints from his female readership. Supreme He has been church warden at St Leonard's in Bilston for two years but remembers a time when "if it couldn't be weighed and measured it didn't exist." Space, he says, has restored his faith in God. "It's impossible to com- prehend infinity and the fan- tastic wonders of space. I realised there must be a sup- reme intelligence that arranged it all." Now a grandfather of four, Walter gained valuable early experience dreaming up inter- galactic bedtime capers to tell his children. Since then subsequent generations of children have thrilled to the timeless adven- tures of young Chris Godfrey and numerous other heroes. It's a fantasy world - but one that in Walter Hughes' experience has a habit of coming true. He says: "I've predicted many things in my books which have, in time, become a reality. "So don't write off science fantasies - sometimes they're a lot more fact than fiction."
Church warden Walter Hughes' secret life has been revealed - by his telephone answering service. It goes: "Please leave your number so one of the humans can ring you back." For the star-struck 73-year-old from Bilston is also a highly successful science fiction writer. His books sell all over Europe and America and are now about to hit the Philippines and Singapore markets. But for years the double life of the retired engineering boss was kept hidden from his business colleagues.
"As I was also a magistrate and a local councillor I felt it left me open to ridicule," said Walter. "People tend to treat science fiction as a bit of a joke so I juggled with my name and wrote under the pseudonym of Hugh Walters. "Not even my family knew until my first book was pub- lished." Walter started writing at the age of 47 after giving a talk on space and astronomy at the Bilston Rotary Club when the scheduled speaker failed to turn up. His report made a paragraph in the local paper and soon	by MARION BRENNAN afterwards Coseley library asked him to speak about science fiction novels during a special book week. While researching his topic Walter decided he could pro- duce far superior sci-fi stories. He sat down and wrote Blast Off at Woomera, had it accepted by the first publishers he approached and is currently working on his 24th novel.	He believes in technical accuracy at all times and his research has even taken him to Cape Canaveral wher he witnessed the launch of Apollo 15. "I'm mindful that I'm writing for children up to the age of 17 and I'd like to think they learn from as well as enjoy my books. "For example, in one of my early novels I had the hero Chris Godfrey landing on the moon and promptly disap- pearing under a deep layer of moon dust. "We've since learnt that there's only a slight covering of dust on the moon surface so	I altered this in later books. "I follow three basic guide- lines when writing: to entertain, first and foremost, to pass on useful factual information and hopefully to inspire future technicians and scientists." During his working days at the family business, Bradsteds Ltd., in Bradley, Walter used to get up at 7 a.m. and put in an hour's writing before leav- ing for the office. Nowadays he writes "frankly, when I feel like it,", but turns out, on average, a book a year. He also give out-of-this-world talks at local schools as well as dealing with a substantial mailbag from his young fans.

Express and Star, January 30th, 1984

Dudley 'sci-fi' writer Walter expects his 20th book out soon
One of Dudley Grammar School's famous sons is Mr Walter Hughes who has established himself as a foremost science fiction writer for youngsters. Mr Hughes, who writes under the name Hugh Walters, ex- pects his 20th book to be in the shops early next year. He was principal speaker at the annual dinner of Dudley Grammar School Old Boys' Association and was also recently guest speaker at a meeting of Dudley Writers' Club. He told members that as a pupil of Dudley Grammar School his first literary success, at the age of 15, was a poem in "The Dudlean" and this started him on the road to being a writer.	Mr Walter Hughes.
In the following years he wrote numerous short stories but as he usually destroyed them, none was ever published. However, throughout his life he has always held an interest in space exploration and in 1955 as a member of Rotary, he was asked by the Bilston Rotary Club to give a talk on space. At that time his predictions of satellites, manned space craft and even man on the moon, were received with a lot of leg pulling and scepticism. His predictions have, of course, since come to pass. PLEASURES Walter Hughes is a member of the British Interplanetary Society and the British Astronomical Society. He has visited Houston and Cape Canaveral, been in space ships and examined rock samples from the moon. His interests in space travel and the promotion of his books have taken him to many countries around the world. Although his works have been translated into many languages, with world-wide distribution, he said that one of	his greatest pleasures was to be advised that his work had been chosen for transcription into Braille for young people unable to see. Research takes up a good percentage of Mr Hughes's preparation for his books and he always keeps within the realms of probability. His aims are threefold - to interest his readers, to project knowledge, and to inspire them to become the technicians and scientists of tomorrow. THE MOON An established writer, with his 20th book in the pipe-line and a Grasshopper Series for seven -11-year-olds now being launched, Mr Hughes's 19th book, "Last Disaster," was published in February 1978. Through his work he has met many well-known people, amongst the Patrick Moore of TV fame, whom he knows personally. Mr Hughes is currently writing another tale entitled "The Blue Aura" in which he bases the structure of the plot upon the German underground hospital at Guernsey. It depicts the first family on the moon. Always, through Mr Hughes's	books there is the thread of engineering knowledge and basic technical feasibility. "In writing for children today," he says, "you have to be authentic." He recalled one of his early novels - "Expedition Venus" - when he placed the planet in the wrong position. "I didn't half get some let- ters" he said. LEG PULLED His first book was called "Blast Off At Woomera" and was really prompted after he had given his talk to the Rotary Club on space travel. "I had my leg pulled and I thought I might as well take it seriously and see what I can do". But Walter's 16 publications in Britain, 14 in USA and half a dozen in Holland, Spain, France and Italy, are read not only by teenagers but by many adults. Mr Hughes said: "There is a book in everyone - carry on persistently and never give up hope." What is required to get a book published? Mr Hughes said: "Five per cent ability, 45 per cent tenacity and 50 per cent luck!"

The County Express, August 4th 1978


Why cat Lucky is over the moon . . .
You've heard of space heroes Dr. Who and Flash Gordon. Now meet Lucky - the first cat on the moon. Lucky belongs to Bil- ston science fiction author Walter Hughes. And he is the model for one of the characters in Mr. Hughes' latest sci-fi adventure for young people The Last Disaster. "The book centres on the fact that the moon is on a collision course with the earth," 67-year-old	Mr Hughes, of Elm Avenue, explained. "A Welsh professor who has invented an anti-gravity device is sent to the moon and he takes his cat - called Morgan in the book - with him." And to mark the occasion Mr. Hughes, pictured, commissioned a life-size wood carving of Lucky from Kidder- minster artist Mr. Brian Todd. "I call it Lucky Mor- gan," said Mr Hughes.

Express and Star, August 30th 1978

Sci-Fi author sets
course for some
close encounters

Close encounters of
the educational kind
will be taking up time
and space at Wolver-
hampton Adult Col-
lege later this month,
when students discuss
the finer points of
science, both fact and
fiction.

The course is being
launched by Bilston science
fiction writer, 68-year-old
Mr Walter Hughes, who has
written 21 books on the
subject - mainly for the 11
to 17 age group.

"I shall be dealing with
the latest developments in
space and UFOs and I will
probably touch on the Ber-

muda Triangle contro-
versy," said Mr Hughes.

He believes that science
fiction films and books and
reported sightings are part
of a plan to gear us for a
real-life close encounter.

"A lot of the things H. G.
Wells wrote about are com-
ing true, and I think it is
nice to feel that some sort of
contact with other beings
may happen one day.

"I shall discuss this pos-
sibility with students,
although I suspect a lot of
them will take a tongue-
in-cheek attitude."

But Mr Hughes, who
recently visited Cape
Canaveral, intends to make
the talks as interesting and
informative as he possibly
can.

Express and Star, September 18th 1978

Unga rymdresenärer		Young Space-Travellers
HUGH WALTERS heter en högst aktningsvärd eng- elsk SF-författare som gör sitt för det internationella samarbetet genom att hålla sig med ett verkligt mellan- folkligt sammansatt rymdre- sarlag; den unge hjälten är engelsman men hans närmas- te medhjältar är en ryss, en annan engelsman och en ame- rikan, och alla rymdfärder skickas ut av ett FN-organ. Grabbarna betar sig sakta men säkert fram genom pla- netsystemet coh har vid det här laget hunnit till Jupiter, som de var snubblande nära att kollidera med i sin senas te bok. Och det fina med serien är att det här inte bara rör sig om vanliga enkla aventyr i svensk pojbokstil - Walters delar också med varm hand ut diverse astronomisk hem- bygdskunskap och besitter därtill ett icke föraktligt tek- niskt vetande, som bland an- nat ger honom möjlighet att åstadkomma riktigt trovärdi- ga rymdskepp. SERIEN är vid det här laget uppe i sex band och vi- sar inga tecken till avmatt- ningö än finns det planeter kvar, och oanvända storyidé- er också. Vilket törhända kan framgå av de sensaste tre ban- den i serien. I Destina- tion Mars (Faber & Fa- ber, 15/---) strävar Chris - engelsmannen som är över- hjälte - och hans vänner till Mars som den andra expedi-	tionen i ordningen, sedan förste man blivit vansin- nig efter att ha hört mystis- ka röster i rymden utanför. I Terror by Satelli- te (Faber & Faber, 13/6) blir en rymdstationschef maktgalen och hotar att ut- plåna jordens växtlighet med hjälp av en svåranvändbar stråle. Och i hittills senaste bandet, Journey to Ju- piter (Faber & Faber, 15/--) sveper Chris & Co i väg ända till jätteplaneten Jupiter, men raketen går all- deles för fort, diverse be- kymmersamma ting inträffar och krashlandning hotar. Allt ordnar sig naturligtvis på bästa sätt i alla tre böckerna, för det gör det ju alltid i ungdomsböcker, men under tiden slevar Walters som sagt ut ett icke föraktfullt såväl astronomisktsom tekniskt vetande till läsaren - och därtill är det så skönt med en trevlig rysk medhjälte i en västerländsk äventyrsserie. R A	HUGH WALTERS is a highly-respected English SF- writer who does his bit for international co-operation by creating a composite multinational space travelling team; the young hero is an Englishman but his fellow heroes are a Russian, another Englishman, and an American, and all space journeys are sent out by a UN department. The chaps graze slowly but surely through the solar system, and the team has by this time arrived at Jupiter, which they nearly collided with in his last book. And the best thing with the series is that it not only reads as a standard simple adventure in Swedish boy's-book style - Walters also warmly imparts diverse astronomical knowledge, all without contempt, as among other things he creates the possibility of a spaceship dignified by [spiritual?] belief. The series is by now in six parts and shows no sign of ending - there are planets left and unused story ideas also. Which maybe can be made clear in the last three parts in the series. In Destination Mars (Faber & Fa- ber, 15/---) Chris - the Englishman who is the leading hero - and his friends strike out to Mars as a second expedition, since the first man became mad after he heard mysterious voices in space outside. In Terror by Satellite (Faber & Faber, 13/6) a space- station commander becomes power-mad and threatens to obliterate the Earth's plant life with the help of a deadly ray, and in the last book to date, Journey to Ju- piter (Faber & Faber, 15/--) Chris and co sweep out finally to the giant planet Jupiter, but the rocket goes slightly too fast, various troubling things happen, and a crashlanding threatens. All is alright of course in the good way of all three books, as it always is in children's books, but in the meantime Walters ladles, as mentioned, a full helping of astronomy,as well as technical knowledge to the reader - and it is so nice to have a good Russian co-hero in a Western adventure series.

Göteborgs Tidningen, January 26th, 1967

Oxford Mail, Friday August 19th, 1977

Express and Star, Friday October 11th, 1961

Express and Star Newspaper
Friday Jan 15th 1993.

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