The History Of The Donkey Books

Written By Carrie Torode

Click here for details on the author George Torode.

George's father, Arthur James Torode, used to fondly recall the old Guernsey characters known to many around the island.  As George grew up, he heard many stories of their exploits and began to realise that soon all these people would probably be forgotten.  In order to do his bit to keep their memories alive, he began to photograph many of the well known Donkey characters.

The collection of photographs grew and occasionally, when there were visitors to the house, the "character album" would be brought out of the old Welsh dresser where it was kept.  As each page was turned, photo after photo would bring a story to George's remembrance and soon the visitors would not only be falling about laughing, but also sharing long-forgotten stories that they had been reminded of.

Each session around the album supplied more and more stories and so, around the age of thirty, George decided to start writing them down.  The first book, Donkey's Ears Ago, records many Guernsey legends.  It is set in the workshop of a local firm, where the stories and anecdotes are told during the lunch break around a pot-bellied stove.

From the writing of the first few pages, to the conclusion of the final chapter, took about twenty years.  Over a hundred sides of A4 were filled with long-hand, as George wrote the story in his conversational style - just as he would tell it.  During this period of two decades, George and his character album, filled with photos, were occasionally invited to people's houses where they entertained friends with such stories as were to be found in the book.

Through a mutual love of books, George became great friends with a Christian brother in the UK, who read the manuscript of Donkey's Ears Ago and loved it.  Like others who had read the stories, he encouraged George to have his work published.  He went a little further than most and even offered to type out the book on his computer.  Being a whizz in the area of bookbinding, he made a beautiful leather-bound copy of the book and finally managed to persuade George that he really ought to do something about getting it into the shops.

In November 1996, Donkey's Ears Ago appeared in Guernsey shops for the first time.  One of George's book signing sessions in Town coincided with the visit of Santa Claus to switch on the Christmas lights.  Both jolly men gathered a large crowd as the Guernsey Press sold out and sent for more books.

After taking twenty years to write Donkey's Ears Ago, the second book, Donkey's Ears Apart, was finished inside of eight weeks.  Again, Neil's typing and bookbinding skills were put into action and the resulting work was in the shops in time for Christmas 1997.  Donkey's Serenade followed the next year, after which George promised to stop! Donkey Tails came out in November 1999 and Donkey's Hind Leg in October 2000!