Chris Stewart (author)
Chris Stewart ( born March 27, 1951 in Crawley, Sussex, England ) is an English author of autobiographical his life as a farmer in the Spanish Alpujarras, a region in the province of Granada, describes where he and his wife Ana and their daughter Chloe lives.
In the regional elections in 2007 in Orgiva, in which he ran for a green wing party, he reached 201 votes ( 8% ).
A degree of international recognition, he also acquired as a founding member of the British rock band Genesis, in which he played 1967/68 drums.
Musician
Stewart attended in 1964 at Charterhouse School in Godalming, England. As a teenager, he first tried his hand at guitar playing. For the band " The Garden Wall " of his schoolmates Peter Gabriel (vocals and flute), and Tony Banks (keyboards), he worked as a drummer but then in 1966. Soon after, the musicians merged with the school band " Anon " the guitarist Anthony Phillips and Mike Rutherford for later known as Genesis Group.
Stewart played on the first two, in February and May 1968, published under the aegis of Jonathan King Genesis Singles The Silent Sun / That ' s Me and A Winter 's Tale / One-Eyed Hound. On the other previously published Genesis material of the early period (fourth CD of the Archive I - 1967 to 1975 ), he is not heard. In the summer of 1968 he left the band because his parents did not encourage a career in music, and got by the former Genesis manager a severance sum of 200 pounds. For the upcoming debut album, he was replaced by John Silver.
After leaving school, Stewart first tried his luck again as a drummer. After a few samples with the Glenn Miller Big Band he played for some time in a two -man circus orchestra, before he began to learn for private purposes in Seville, Spain, Flamenco guitar.
Another Journey
Chris Stewart's life story is up to his settling down in Andalusia characterized by numerous travel and odd jobs, which he accepted on the go. He worked in the French wine-growing and in Spanish orange groves. Through the trips, he also gained a wide range of languages , including Spanish, French, German and Chinese. For the English travel book publisher Rough Guides, he traveled to Spain, China and Turkey. In Dallas, Texas, he made a pilot's license for small aircraft. Only the training to become shearers in Sussex, England, secured him a more or less regular income with which he as an author mostly denied a livelihood for his family up to his successes.
Driving Over Lemons
In 1999, Stewart's first book Driving Over Lemons with the subtitle "An Optimist in Andalucía " on the market, under the title Under the lemon trees also appeared in German in 2001. It tells in a humorous and self-deprecating manner of his arrival in Spain, the acquisition of dilapidated farm " El Valero ," which he renovated with the help of locals for himself and his wife, and from the arduous life without electricity, running water and access road. It also portrays the beauty of the landscape and the peculiarities of the sometimes quirky, but lovable locals.
On the back cover Peter Gabriel wrote something like: " An idyllic life on a secluded and sunny square in Europe is a Fantasy ', which normally breaks down on harsh realities and is discarded. Chris is carved from another timber. , Driving Over Lemons ' is a beautiful account of his Andalusian adventure. "
The book was awarded the British Book Award for best young author for the Stewart, was also an international bestseller. The original English title refers to the fact that there are often smeared lemon routes in Andalusia, such as, for example, in Central Europe, in some rural areas the cider fruit when ripe is on the road where it is run over carelessly.
A Parrot In The Pepper Tree
2002 saw Stewart's second book A Parrot In The Pepper Tree, German title A parrot in the pepper tree. This book is both a continuation of the first book, provides the other hand also a journey into Stewart's past: from their own school days and his involvement with Genesis on the other stages of life before settling down in Andalusia, to his success as an author.
This book was to be found again in the bestseller lists. The title refers to a budgie, so no parrot in the narrower sense of the family flew in one day and since then his self- elected domicile has on the farm.
The Almond Blossom Appreciation Society
2006 Stewart released his third book entitled The Almond Blossom Appreciation Society, in turn, a sort of sequel to the first two books. As with the second book renounced the author on a chronological order of the stories. The colorful mixed memories of his life in Spain included this time also increasingly occurrences recent: The situation created by the success of his books, financial independence, Stewart used, for example, socially and to get involved in local politics, such as in a club for newly arrived foreign workers in Spain.
The said in the book entitled " almond blossoms value estimation union " but is a jocular term for those close friends of Stewart, who also once off can actively enjoy the associated work long walks, the beauty of the landscape.
Three Ways to Capsize a Boat
After Stewart in between the Genesis Biography " Chapter & Verse " (2007) had contributed a two-page essay about his time in the band, was released with Three Ways to Capsize a Boat, subtitled " An Optimist Afloat ", 2009, another autobiographical work of the author. This time it's all about the sailing theme.