Author of submarine and Naval books, Gerald J Lewis

Gerald J Lewis

Gerald Lewis was born in Surrey close to London during the second world war. During the London blitz at age two he was evacuated to his aunt in Cheltenham. He was educated at Balham Grammar School and awarded an art scholarship but instead became a nursing student and then joined the Navy, serving on several vessels including submarines. On leaving the services, and with engineering skills, Gerald became self-employed in various types of business, from building and property maintenance to retail and catering.

Since retiring he has travelled extensively and his time is shared between staying in North Wales and at the house he is renovating in the country in Valencia Province, Spain. He has fruit trees, an orange grove and good views. He has plenty of time to think about his plots whilst looking after his plot (pun intended!) and the open space and quiet are conducive to writing.

Gerald has been writing for many years, but only for his own enjoyment and entertainment. He has several manuscripts in various stages of completion and Orestes has been in that process for quite a number of years. He comments:

When the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk sank on 12 August 2000 in the Barents Sea, all 118 personnel on board were lost. The submarine was taking part in a naval exercise such as the setting for my book, and this terrible news spurred me into finding and revisiting my manuscript notes for Orestes. I felt the need for everyone to feel the humanity of this situation. Eventually, the manuscript was ready to present to a publisher but it took a lot of time and persuasion from my family for me to actually take that final step.