My Tinnitus Created Mirth & Verse

About the Book

My interest in poetry is very odd. In 2007 I started to suffer, as I still do suffer, from tinnitus, but I had never heard of it back then. It was so bad that I went on sick leave and made all kinds of demands from doctors and others. I even had a head scan! A tumour was found and removed, but it had nothing to do with my tinnitus. Since then I have not been able to stop reading and writing poetry. Is there a connection? I don’t know. My tinnitus is still a big discomfort to me 24/7. My poetry writing is the best distraction for me, and for a few hours each day it helps me forget about the tinnitus until I stop. So write I shall until the end. - Johnny Crook’s strange condition didn’t stop him from writing wonderful prose. He compiled it in a book for ordinary readers and seasoned poets to appreciate. Read on to find poems of hope and inspiration!

About the Author

In a family with three sisters, I was the youngest. Whilst still at school, I was in the Scouts and church choir, and I went to Sunday school. I did a paper round and delivered bread from a van. I left school when I was fifteen years old and started work straightaway in a garage repairing crashed cars. I did this for ten years, and it was hard. My favourite hobby was martial arts. My part-time taxi driving wasn’t an art. I was one of the last bus conductors in Leigh. Then in 1978 I joined the police, where I stayed for thirty years. I am now currently running two poetry groups, one in Westhoughton and another in Bolton, and I’m also the town crier. I do poetry readings as and when requested, public or private. I just started as a radio DJ for the local radio station Howfen Radio on the internet. Needless to say, my hour is titled “Poetry Corner”. Bolton FM Radio for the last four years has requested me for readings on their Community Corner programme, which is great fun.