Paolo Hewitt - But We All Shine On

If you want to read a beautiful, uplifting book about the survival of the human spirit, and good lives being forged from the most unfortunate origins, then But We All Shine On is absolutely essential. The subject matter and intensely personal nature of the material makes it perfect for Paolo Hewitts positive, soulful prose. He and his friends dont spare us the pain and sorrow, but they make us feel the relief and redemption that love, hope, humour and togetherness bring to that suffering.

Irvine Welsh

Powerful, moving, touching and funny. Paolo Hewitt has given a voice to those who are often unheard. The characters stay with you long after you have turned the final page.

John Crace, The Guardian

Read But We All Shine On and you might act just a little differently next time youre out amid the crowds of humankind. These are stories of people all around us, but stories which their subjects wouldnt normally volunteer. They have told them to Paolo Hewitt because he spent his own childhood with them, in care. Hewitt relays their accounts with a warmth and wit familiar to those who enjoyed his wonderful memoir The Looked After Kid . These orphans were boys who overcame awful circumstances to become fine adults and they remind us of the vast unlocked potential of every child who through cruel luck is denied the childhood they deserve.

Ian Burrell, Assistant Editor, The Independent

Stories of hope and resilience that will break your heart.

John Niven, author of Kill Your Friends

It could be said that family is a collection of disputed memories between one group of people over a lifetime. But for the child in care this one group of people is continually dispersed to the point of being impossible to recognise themselves. A non-family of shadows. With his pen Paolo projects light on the darkest path as he seeks the family that never was and unravels a tragic, comical, magical and moving story. All we are is our story. Without it we are pages of spurious ellipses. We need Paolo Hewitt with his torch. Shine on, Paolo Hewitt. Shine on.

Lemn Sissay MBE, writer

Reading these remarkably personal and inspirational self-discovery journeys bought a mixture of emotions that were both a joy and painful to feel. It never ceases to amaze me, the strength and humanity which stays secure within hurt children and lives with them forever. A beautifully written memoir which has to be read and recognised for the achievement it is and the dignity it deserves.

Hope Daniels, care leaver and author of Hackney Child

This book will put tears in your eyes and leave you with a smile on your face. It is a testament to the spirit of five boys who are forced to confront fear, loneliness and varying degrees of mental and physical cruelty, yet emerge as strong, decent men. Paolo Hewitt draws the stories of his four orphanage friends together with great integrity, splashing poetry and light over their shared trauma. Reading But We All Shine On is a humbling, uplifting experience. It is a worthy companion to the authors brilliant memoir The Looked After Kid .

John King, author of The Football Factory and Human Punk

Paolo writes with such deftness of touch and fondness for the real-life characters that populate this engaging memoir that the reader is taken into their lives and hearts; he opens a door and invites us into the world of the care system in the 1970s. Rightly, he makes us feel sad for the many, many children who suffered cruelty or indifference at the hands of people who were meant to care for them, but this is no misery memoir. Paolo doesnt dwell in the darkness or want us to he shows us how so often the human spirit survives and triumphs over ill-treatment, rejection and abandonment, against all odds. He has no interest in pandering to the voyeuristic schadenfreude of readers who hungrily devour graphic accounts of child abuse; instead, he gives us hope, humour and warmth. Traumatic and poignant events are recounted factually and simply without the trappings of melodrama, but are all the more affecting for that. His tone is honest and humane; he seeks to understand and forgive the wrongs done to him and others and tries to avoid judgement. In passing, he contrasts the experience of young people in care then and now, and even for those of us who know only too well that the system is still deeply flawed, the book serves as a reminder of how far we have come as a society in terms of how we treat our most vulnerable children.

Natasha Finlayson, Chief Executive, The Who Cares? Trust

Reflecting on care in the not-too-distant past through the eyes of children, But We All Shine On gives insight into where weve come from, and challenges where we are and where we still need to go. It can help get us to the better future we all desire for children in care. In the created family of the childrens home, relationships matter they can change and sustain a person for a lifetime, and bring the opportunities of life to be lived.

Jonathan Stanley, National Centre for Excellence in Residential Child Care

Hewitt has shed a light on the murky world of late 60s and early 70s childrens homes. An empathetic listener and master story teller his is the authentic voicefrom the insidefirst hand. The characters are his friends. They trust him. The stories herein are touching, funny and most of all redemptive. Its quite possibly his masterpiece.

Dr. Robert, The Blow Monkeys

But We All Shine On

by the same author

The Looked After Kid

My Life in a Childrens Home

Paolo Hewitt

ISBN 978 1 84905 588 8

eISBN 978 1 78450 042 9

of related interest

No Matter What

An Adoptive Familys Story of Hope, Love and Healing

Sally Donovan

ISBN 978 1 84905 431 7

eISBN 978 0 85700 781 0

Shattered Lives

Children Who Live with Courage and Dignity

Camila Batmanghelidjh

ISBN 978 1 84310 603 6

eISBN 978 1 84642 254 6

But We All Shine On

The Remarkable Orphans of Burbank Childrens Home

Paolo Hewitt

Jessica Kingsley Publishers
London and Philadelphia

First published in 2015

by Jessica Kingsley Publishers

73 Collier Street

London N1 9BE, UK

and

400 Market Street, Suite 400

Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA

www.jkp.com

Copyright Paolo Hewitt 2015

Front cover image copyright Des Hurrion 2015

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form (including photocopying or storing it in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of this publication) without the written permission of the copyright owner except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under the terms of a licence issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, Saffron House, 610 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Applications for the copyright owners written permission to reproduce any part of this publication should be addressed to the publisher.

Warning: The doing of an unauthorised act in relation to a copyright work may result in both a civil claim for damages and criminal prosecution.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978 1 84905 583 3

eISBN 978 1 78450 033 7

I dedicate this book to Des, Norman, David and Terry and to all the children who lived at Burbank Childrens Home. I hope you all find the light I did, given to me by Dio and shaped by Sahika.