JAMIE THE POETS OWN STORY

Jamie was born in London His family moved to the midlands at a very young age. When he started to experiment with drugs at the tender age of 11. It was not unexpected. His mother being a registered drug addict. His stepfather was a weekend binge drinker. Who when drunk would make his family clean the house from top to bottom at three or four o'clock in the morning most weekends. If they refused they would be beaten with a belt or made to stand in a corner for the rest of the night. It was a natural progression(As he puts it) After all his mother was an addict and most her friends and the fact that no one told him not to. It was either drugs or drink around him seven days a week. Luckily drink was never a problem.
Jamie went to a secondary modern school when he was not stoned or asleep. When he did attend, he was always sat at the back of the class as it was thought he had learning difficulties and was disruptive. He left school not being able to read and write. A regular user of amphetamines and cannabis which progressed over the years to heroin. By the time he was twenty one he was a full time addict and homeless. He begged and he stole to feed his habit. by the time he was thirty six he'd been to prison even when released he struggled to keep any accommodation he was found because of his drug addiction. He was forty eight years old when one Christmas he had an epiphany. No plan just a crazy idea and decided enough was enough. He threw the bag of heroin he had just brought into the Thames and has been clean ever since. He has also learned to read and write and has written and produced his own books of poetry. He has also written a children book called The Extraordinary Mouse and is now writing a play even though he has not actually seen one. He says the day his life changed was the day the Thames got stoned instead of him.