Memoirs of Nigel Quiney

This unusually frank and honest memoir deals with the life of Nigel Quiney from his earliest memories of living through the blitz of London in WWII, to when he was twenty-one and boarded the Queen Elizabeth believing he was emigrating to the USA. His experiences there and travelling coast-to-coast are a fascinating read as he details how a young Englishman saw this country in 1960. In this book he details how he realized that he was gay at a very early age in London and how he came to terms with it, at the same time discovering what was then the underworld of London's gay life. A fascinating read for anyone interested in this period of war and the difficult after-years for a young man knowing that he was different and ultimately discovering his gayness when the very mention of the subject was taboo, but acting upon it. This is the first of four memoirs.

This frank and honest memoir follows the life of Nigel Quiney aged twenty-one returning to London from the USA. He re-joins the family business of paper importers Ridley Quiney & Co. and leaves home. The new decade of the 'sixties is an exciting time and gay life is beginning to be more interesting, with more clubs and bars and even places where dancing is possible, subject to police raids. With his own studio he now has the freedom to entertain friends and it is in this period that he falls in love with Gordon Heath, the American actor/singer and begins a torrid affair with him. When this relationship finally finishes he resumes again his interest in design which culminates in his producing a range of unique gift-wrapping papers which immediately become best sellers. Thanks to the politics of the family business his gift-wraps were not taken up and thus he created his own business, Nigel Quiney Designs. This launches him into the excitement of Swinging London with increasing sales both at home and across the USA. With an expanding business he travels back to the USA where he indulges in the expanding gay life in New York and Los Angeles as well as promoting his gift-wrapping papers. In holiday times he discovered the joys of being gay in Ibiza and Morocco at a time when little tourism existed there. In the mid-sixties he meets Ted and Gillian Thorpe. She, under the name of Eliot George wrote one of the first gay novels to be published - The Leather Boys, subsequently made into a successful film. Later when she was furthering her career by writing screen plays in Hollywood she and Nigel met. The following year Ted was looking for someone to share expenses when he planned to cross the USA in his Lotus Elan and Nigel put himself forward as his traveling companion. This started a life-long friendship and the two cross country drives produced many memorable and hilarious situations at a time when the English were a very rare event for Americans to come across. This is the second of four memoirs.

This volume continues to explore the life of Nigel Quiney during the decade of the nineteen-seventies. Both his companies - Nigel Quiney Designs, and Ridley Quiney & Co Ltd - are successful and expanding. By then the decade of the 'sixties and Swinging London was maturing and London had become an extremely popular tourist destination drawn to the creativity of the theatre, music, fashion, designs and the arts generally. It was in this decade that Nigel began to explore the Far East as a source for new products and suppliers for the family business of RQ and Hong Kong was the first of many destinations that he explored. Later in 1976, having accepted one of the official invitations to visit China he flew the tortuous journey to Peking and then by train to Dairen and then Tientsin. In Dairen he was privileged to be shown the underground tunnels and excavations which took many years to create and were part of a defense system should the Russians invade. Back in Peking he was wandering around filming in Tiananmen Square which was packed with people and giant wreaths out to commemorate the death of Chou En-Lai. He was ushered away by his Chinese interpreter just before the authorities swooped and confiscated all film and arrested the few foreigners who were later jailed. He had escaped by just minutes. The same year Nigel was introduced to the amazing aspects of Bombay and touring Rajasthan by car. There he stayed at several palaces that had only just been turned into hotels where he and his two friends were the only guests. In the latter part of this decade Nigel explored Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, The Philippines, Indonesia and South Korea looking for new suppliers which culminated in Ridley Quiney being the first importer of throw-away thin carrier bags into the UK. This memoir also records the love affair between Nigel and an American pop singer which sadly failed even after trips to Moscow and Ibiza. Later another affair, was also doomed. This was also the decade when industrial unrest in coal mining, steel production and manufacturing was producing strikes as the demand and competition from abroad threatened their survival. Also the decade when our various governments seemed unable to deal with these problems to the point that the UK was likened to a Banana Republic. Nigel's love affair with America blossomed and in this period he took on the share of a flat in New York previously used by his friend, the musician and composer, Richard Rodney Bennett. In this exciting city Nigel promoted his Nigel Quiney Design products by taking space annually at trade shows and when not working took full advantage of the city's varied gay life. In Los Angeles, Nigel continued his close relationship with Edward and Gillian Thorpe and introduced his widowed mother to these trips where she became very much part of the entourage.

This is the continuing story of the life and times of Nigel Quiney. The previous three volumes dealt with his life living in London from 1939, the war years, discovering he was gay in his teens and the start of traveling. They dealt with his business life and his searching for love and adventure in London and the cities of New York, Chicago and Los Angeles where he travelled regularly. Running two businesses and travelling to distant parts of the Far East including China in the 'seventies this volume deals with the last three decades during which he met up with David Evans who became his lover and later they became civil partners when the law was changed to allow it. In this last volume, the early work of growing his businesses culminated in 1996 by their being sold allowing early retirement at the age of fifty-seven. This volume incorporates stories about the serious side of business as well as recounting some humorous tales of business abroad and dealing with the different cultures that he discovered. Finally this is a story of success after working for over forty years and the enduring quality of his loving partnership with David Evans. This volume will produce tears of sadness as well as smiles and joy as middle-age slides into the next chapter of his life and will prove, if such a thing is necessary, that being gay does not preclude a hugely satisfactory way of living.