New book by Andrew Colley (LGB, 2001) "The Man who Tested Parachutes"

We are delighted to share the latest book of Andrew Colley. Andrew Colley was Head of the Theatre Department at La Grande Boissière between 1995 and 2001. He went on to become Senior Lecturer in Special Education at The University of East London and has written a number of books about special education, inclusion and social justice for publishers including Routledge. 

The book covers the remarkable life of Charles Agate, who volunteered in 1941 to test parachutes and parachuting techniques and equipment and went on to make a record 1601 jumps up to 1946. Charles Agate was Andrew’s Head Teacher at Primary School in the late 1960’s and an influential figure in his own career in education.

 "The Man Who Tested Parachutes" tells Agate’s unique story in uncompromising detail from his childhood in Surrey, his unique war service and his ‘lost’ post-war years when he struggled with the heavy emotional toll of the war. By 1945, parachuting for Agate had become a very vicious drug, a damaging addiction which he took years to overcome. The book recounts his post-war journey of recovery from what would now be diagnosed as PTSD to become the unconventional and charismatic head teacher of Merstham Primary School in Surrey, remembered with affection and gratitude by generations of pupils. It also charts his final years running an ice cream parlour on Shoreham Beach up to his shocking and still unexplained death in 1986. 

Since its publication, the book has been featured in national and regional newspapers in the UK and the authors (Andrew Colley and John Neil) have carried out talks and signings in bookshops including branches of Waterstones. The BBC is currently making a podcast about the book, and the authors are developing a screen play around the story.