KIM WHEELER
- GUEST AUTHOR,
PHOTOGRAPHER AND POET -
G'day folks,
Today, I interview a very talented and generous man with whom I've spoken many times via skype from the UK. Kim is now living in Indonesia and we are still Skyping.
Welcome, Kim ...
1.
Tell us about you and what you do.
I was born in London in July 1954 and was dumped by
my birth mother, no known father, spent formative years in children’s home
which left an indelible mark on my life and made me stronger for the experience
and not weaker. I am a published author of twelve books though three are no
longer available. I am also an award-winning photographer (which changed my
view on mother earth, seeing her utter beauty which I hadn’t really noticed
before being too busy with work). I rescue dogs which I have now done for twenty-five
years and just completed a re-written version of Rescue Dog Rescues Man with a
shiny new name ‘When Your Best Friend is a Dog.’(out soon) I have worked in
many different jobs, failed selection for the army three times (blessing in disguise)
worked in petrol stations pumping petrol, gas fitter, lathe turner,
professional decorator, HGV Class One driver, short spell as Driver Bodyguard
and quite a few dead-end jobs. Now after a succession of injuries and near
death took early retirement and became a writer and a published author of
several different genres of books including children’s, award winning poet, biography
and photography books but now I teach English at UKRI University in Bandung,
Indonesia which is without doubt the most fulfilling and enjoyable job I have
ever had and it’s something I always wanted to do but always thought that I was
under qualified, how wrong was I?? I also give my time for free.
2.
What was the happiest moment of your life?
I got two Clance…being born and getting married
3.
What was the saddest moment?
Losing a
brother to Cancer and putting four of my rescue dogs to sleep…and knowing I
will have to put more of these faithful once unwanted and unloved friends to
sleep, gets me every time...but however painful this is for me, I won’t stop
rescuing.
4.
What surprised you most?
The dishonesty of certain politicians but
especially the ones like T Blair and G Bush who happily and without any sort of
conscience lie to the world and send troops to die and then to suffer the pain from
appalling injuries and PTSD, and then have the nerve to praise themselves for what
great job they have done. The greed of certain people mainly the rich and
famous, the cruelty of certain humans towards each other and animals, and human’s
propensity towards violence especially in the States and UK but also the benevolence and kindness of sadly
the few and not the many.
5.
What was your greatest disappointment?
In short Clancy, humanity for being too weak, too
feeble to fight and too apathetic to make the changes this world needs, rather
relying on others to do their dirty work for them while they sit and shout at
the television about how wrong the world is but if this is a personal question
about my greatest disappointment then I would have to say failing the army
because I knew at a young age that I needed strong discipline, first I was too
young to join and the other two times being just not physically fit enough. It would have saved me from
myself and I certainly wouldn’t have accepted that joint that someone passed me
those many years ago. I needed to toughen up not fail myself time and time
again.
6. Who did you misjudge?
Why?
Friends, hoping
for a lifetime of closeness and brotherly love only to feel utterly betrayed
when my life changed (for the better) after a series of injury’s and life-threatening
illness.
7.
What or who was your biggest challenge?
Myself,
trusting, finding love, accepting my life and not being so angry at it and
forgiveness of what appears to be so many but my expectations of love was
destroyed and trying to fill that huge void from birth was always going to be
an enormous struggle, happily I got there in the end but it took a lifetime of
pain to eventually find.
8.
What has been your biggest regret?
Perhaps giving
in too easily and happily jumping thru fire in order to be accepted and wanted.
9.
What would be your dying comment? Why?
To my wife, ‘to
continue your work as an ambassador for good and for God, to become a world
leader and the first female Muslim President of Indonesia, use my strength to
help the weak and to carry on our stoic work with the frightened, the poor, the
unwanted and unloved, I love you to eternity Zora, you are and always will be,
my light in dark blue oceans.
As for why
Clancy…I was a broken man struggling to see the point in living at all with myself
whose dogs were my only true friends, who lived alone and had very few honest
and trustworthy friends, this lady helped me by loving me for who I was, for understanding
and accepting my physical and mental scars and I carried many, never ever thinking
or believing I was a bad person and she was right. I wasn’t but I felt I was.
10.
Who or what stunned you the most?
The power of silent prayer for others needs and not
your own, it works, my God does it work.
11.
What would you like written on your tombstone? Why?
Faithful
Husband and father of two, animal lover, rescuer, teacher and friend.
As for why
Clancy, six or my best attributes if I am to be honest.
12. Who would you rather have not met? Why?
There’s quite a
list here of people who have hurt me beyond reason but I have learnt that
without these bad people I wouldn’t have grown so strong but if I have to name names
then I would say those who so physically and mentally abused me during my
childhood. No child deserves that.
13.
Who were you most envious of? Why?
Jimi
Hendrix...need I say more
14.
Who did you forgive – for doing something you never thought you’d forgive?
My birth Mother
Kathy (who at the time of my birth was a prostitute) and the man who paid to
have sex with her resulting in me. It’s difficult to forgive such cruelty but I
wasn’t prepared to carry even more scars with me for the rest of my life and
forgiveness for me was closure but believe me when I say, it was not easy.
Truth is in her abandoning me was actually the best thing that could have ever happened
even though life after 5 days old was hell in a children’s home but certainly
better than it would have been with her, and without the sperm donor, who
doesn’t even have a name I would not be here, so grateful for small mercies…
15.
What was your greatest moment in your life?
Having the
balls to see my life as it was when I was at the bottom of my very own shit pit,
and find the inner strength to climb again and again out of this cold dark lonely
hole to become who I am today, by having the balls to completely change absolutely everything in my life,
moving away from so called friends, giving up the drugs, the alcohol, the bad
volatile attitude, and moving country after I was healed sufficiently to start
life anew.
16.
What is your greatest achievement?
Rescuing and
continuing to rescue dogs because the loss is unbearable and knowing that one day,
I will have to say goodbye is without doubt the hardest emotion that I have
ever faced.
17.
What personal traits would you like to have in your next life?
Parents would
be nice Clance…sorry I digress, I think better, wiser stronger, decision making
to listen to me and not fall in to the trap of believing others
18.
What advice would you give to world leaders?
You are NOT God…Remove
your ego and be prepared to listen and to be wrong when you try to change the
world.
19.
What advice would you give to parents today?
Love and
never-ending patience, and never ever hit a child.
20.
Who would you choose to be stuck on a desert island with?
My wife...
21.
Have any heroes? Why? Who?
John, Paul,
George and Ringo, my childhood friends thru unfriendly days and nights who were
the most incredible talented bunch of guys you could wish to have as heroes and
no getting naked like todays so called celebs, no bad attitudes or foul
language, just four guys who wrote and performed some of the best music ever
written and I still listen to them most weeks some fifty years later.
What are the
greatest legacies you will leave behind?
No matter how
many times you fall down never ever give up and never ever give up being a good
guy and help anyone/anything who needs you’re support from the poor starving to
the abandoned animal who needs it without expecting anything in return.
What’s lacking in the world today?
LOVE & PATIENCE
22.
Any pearls of wisdom for the rest of us?
If you have more than you need then, give
and donate anything that you really don’t need.
23.
What would be the last sentence you ever write?
‘Wow, what a journey.’
24.
What inspired you most?
Failure…
Below is one of
my favourite quotes
Q, what’s the
secret of success?
A, right
decisions
Q, how do you
make right decisions?
A, experience
Q, how do you
gain experience
A, wrong
decisions
25.
Who or what made you laugh the most?
British sense
of humour/comedy such as Monty Python, Morecambe and Wise, The Two Ronnie’s and
more lately Frankie Boyle.
26.
What would be your top three chosen careers in your next life?
Formula one
racing driver, Author, Astronaut.
27.
What is your prime focus in life today?
Hopefully to
help others understand the importance of how pets are so intrinsic to the
wellbeing of the sad, broken, injured or those who suffer with mental health
issues including PTSD as I know from experiencing all the aforementioned how my
dogs changed my life. To continue giving my time for free in teaching students
life skills and English and to continue being one of the good guys for others
to emulate and to continue being a good husband, father, animal lover and dog
rescuer.
28.
Do you have any fear of doing something wrong?
No, not really as I have after many years of
getting so much wrong finally taught myself to wait, to be patient, to breath and
to not rush into any rash decisions.
29.
If or when you reflect on your past, can you identify any world events
that you believe had a significant impact on you?
Most wars including Vietnam, the lies
surrounding 911, but especially the lies to take the USA and the UK to war in
the Middle East and the death of Jimi Hendrix and John Lennon I don’t often do
tears but when these two died, I cried.
30. Do you think one can live a purposeful life without knowing the meaning
of life?
The meaning of life
is our own perspective of reality and as none of us really know the answer to
that, my response to this clever question Clancy is, ‘yes, of course’.
31.
From your perspective - what is the way
forward for the world?
Love Mother Earth
more, respect the earths climate is changing and adhere to the rules of life as
we will never ever win any battle against nature, stop the cruelty to all
animals, become vegetarian, do not vote for lying, selfish, greedy politicians
be man enough to make changes to self and others, do not be so easily led and
fooled and stop the incessant need to go on safari trips in order to take selfies,
and leave wildlife alone and to stop destroying the worlds heritage sites just
so you can share your photographs on pithy sites like Facebook/Twitter and
Instagram just for a puerile ‘like’ and to CLOSE all circuses and the barbaric
treatment of animals in bull fighting and bull riding and finally for the NRA
to wake up and see what damage you are doing to yourselves and the USA
32.
Imagine that you were given a chance to live again, what will you do first
and what will you do differently?
Hopefully take on all that I have learnt from this
incredible journey into my next life and just try to improve myself in becoming
a better person, to be more patient, more understanding, to give more than I
take or need. There’s lots of things that I didn’t have in this life, like my
parents so having the love of a Mother and Father would be a bonus but I did
pretty well without them in this life.
33.
Do you have a
bucket list? Tell us more.
Not getting any younger Clance, and the scars hurt so anything physical
is now out of the question though I would have loved to have swam with a whale,
skydived and climbed Everest but that’s gone now so I would love to write a
best selling book and donate the money to those who need it most and perhaps
paddle alongside some friendly dolphins
34.
Any great claims to fame?
None really but going from an orphanage, an
uneducated, non-speaking, broken child with just hope in his eyes to have a
better life to finally become a teacher of English and life skills in UKRI
University takes some doing. I am proud of that ‘small for others but large for
me,’ achievement.
35.
Anything you’d like to add?
Yes, I would like to say a special thank you to
Clancy, writer, award winning author and photographer who over the years has
become as close as a brother to me - a wise, generous, bloody funny, bald,
forthright, angry as a Philips screwdriver, no nonsense man, who takes absolutely
no shit from anyone, for not just being a bloody close, supportive and loyal
friend, but for giving me the chance to again appear on his blog.
Clance you are a diamond…, it’s an honour for me to
have a friend like you in my life...live long and prosper…love your work…
Clancy's comment: Well, folks, I did have the pleasure of writing my thoughts on the back cover of Kim's book, 'Light and Dark', and I thought it was worth sharing. My words sum things up fairly well.
LIGHT & DARK REVIEW
Kim
Wheeler is the master at expressing his inner thoughts and feelings in words.
He is also a great photographer and poet. With seven published books to his
name, he continues to impress me. His poetry is often gut-wrenching and brutally
honest, but I admire any male who can express himself so frankly. It shows a
personality that is striving to be the best person possible.
Kim’s
photographs also show an exceptional talent. As a published author and
photographer myself, I can relate to the connection between words on a page and
taking photographs.
This
is a thought-provoking book that has taken great courage to compile.
Clancy Tucker
Award-winning Australian author and
photographer.
I'm ...
Nice change up from the usual questions Clancy, and WOW, what a powerful and interesting interview.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Tamian. Interesting author and photographer.
DeleteCT