The Quiet Man

In the late seventies, the boy starts to mature. He learnt that ‘Competency brings responsibility’ and that he has to live a life ‘Continuing to learn.’ This is all aided and abetted with two gallons of smuggled navy rum and a promotion to Third Engineer Officer.   The fifth extract from Neil Tuson's new book— "Listening, Laughing, and Learning."   #character #listening #laughing #learning #studen...

It's 1972. The lessons in this chapter are ‘Delay the Gratification’ and ‘Stay Active’. The real lessons in life come after you leave school. I’m introduced to Kafkaesque Bureaucracy, running in the middle of the Atlantic, and the seeds of a personal vision.   The third extract from Neil Tuson's new book— "Listening, Laughing, and Learning."   #character #listening #laughing #learning #students #e...

It’s 1966. England won the World Cup, and I go to Prices Grammar. England’s win lives on my school days will forever fade away. The critical transition from childhood to young adulthood is characterised by teenage angst and rebellion. The watershed moment is ‘Developing my own sunny disposition’ and ‘Investing in myself’.   The second extract from Neil Tuson's new book— "Listening, Laughing, and L...

We start in 1954. Radically different to the ethos of 2024. The mantras of the day were “Spare the rod and spoil the child” and “Children should be seen and not heard”. Collective self-esteem, national character, and attitude were rapidly going South. It was time to ‘Blow one’s own trumpet’ and recognise that ‘Coming second is OK, but first feels so much better’.   The first extract from Neil Tuso...

Pilot: "Neil doesn't say much, but when he does, it's worth listening to!" This is one of those comments that many people would have ignored or forgotten. In 37 years of listening and learning, I collected those comments, lessons, and forgotten scraps of life and formed them into my latest book— 'Listening, Laughing, and Learning'. Because I never said that much, many people thought I was 'hiding...