A FORMER commodities broker who lived in East Africa for many years between 1956 and 1989 has penned his life story.
Ian Harris, 83, has just published his book, Work Hard Play Hard, about his childhood in England, serving with the Royal Air Force for his National Service, and his life in East Africa.
Mr Harris lives with his second wife, Lotti, 76, whom he met in Bath, at Springhead, Sutton Veny.
In his early 20s, he went out to Nairobi in East Africa to work as a commodities broker for Dalgety and later worked in Mombasa for the Cunard shipping company.
His book describes many of his experiences, including being ambushed at night by a gang of men who wanted to steal one of his cargoes.
"By the time the morning came there were several men dead," he said.
Along the way, he played rugby against Idi Amin, later President of Uganda, and knew the King of Toro, Patrick Olimi, and President Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here