denysfisher.com

What is a memoir of Denys Fisher, inventor if Spirograph, about?

Well, this probably sounds like a bit of a daft question!

But is it?

Dad was interested in all aspects of life – that inventive mind of his wasn’t restricted in what it could become fascinated with. As a consequence, my father explored many of the highways and byways of life.

A friend who has just read the most recent draft of dad’s memoir surprised me with a very gratifying comment:

“There’s something in this book for everyone!”

That made me feel I’ve done something right, because dad had that generous, larger-than-life character which meant everyone could find something of value when they met him. Everyone was welcome with dad – he was very egalitarian like that.

Because this memoir is also my attempt at a biography of dad, we get to see all aspects and phases of his life – and that means the book covers quite a lot of ground. Of course I felt it was vital that I cover Spirograph in detail – where the idea came from, and the unlikely and often random way that my father turned it into a world beater. But I also take us inside his world of ideas, I try to bring to life his personal relations, his loves, his successes and his failures (…….or learning opportunities as dad might prefer to regard his setbacks!)

Above all, though, this book documents a quest.

My father was endlessly fascinated by existence itself and spent a lifetime searching for answers . This was the aspect of him that I most identified with, so it is inevitable that my memoir is somewhat slanted that way. You will inevitably be seeing him through my eyes, so out of his many, many aspects his philosophical side will be prominent, especially in the latter chapters.

The question I might pose to you is: how far do you think dad and I got with investigating this wonderful mystery called life?