Born in the London suburb of Chingford in 1925, J. Gordon Mumford was fourteen when the war began in 1939. Too young to serve in the armed forces, from 1942-1947 he was a radio officer in the British Merchant Navy, serving in the major war theatres. These wartime experiences led to his war memoir The Black Pit... and Beyond, written in the style of an adventure novel. Mumford's interest in writing began in the early 1960s when he was an instructor/technical writer on aid projects in developing African countries and wrote course manuals and newsletters. From 1949-58, he was an Assistant Engineer for the East African Posts and Telecommunications Administration, working in the field on the radio repeater survey routes throughout Kenya, Tanganyika and Uganda using VHF radio-repeaters. This work took him to remote areas where he sometimes had to make his own paths and roads to install equipment, leading to two later manuscripts called White Man's Drum, about coping with the African bush, and Drums of Rebellion, about the Mau Mau revolt and violence in Kenya. Mumford immigrated to Canada in 1958, and studied at the University of Western Ontario and OCE. After qualifying as a secondary school teacher in 1960, he taught under various international aid projects from 1961-80 in Kenya, Nigeria, and other developing countries (CIDA, UNESCO, etc.). He took a year's leave (1964-65)to complete the technologist program at Mohawk College in Ontario. After he came to BC in 1980, he worked for Communications Canada (1981-90) as a Radio Inspector and as Emergency Planning Liaison Officer (between the federal and provincial governments). Mumford has published various articles and been a member of the West End Writers Club, Burnaby Writing Society, Canadian Authors Association and Federation of BC Writers. He is also a member of the CMNVA (Canadian Merchant Navy Veterans Association) and VNVA (Vancouver Naval Veterans Association). His Zebra Publishing House imprint has additional African memoirs in the planning stages.

CITY/TOWN: New Westminster, BC

DATE OF BIRTH: 24 April, 1925

PLACE OF BIRTH: Chingford (London), England.

ARRIVAL IN CANADA: 1958

ARRIVAL IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: 1980

BOOKS:

Drums of Rebellion: Kenya in Chaos (New Westminster: Zebra Publishing House, 2005)

White Man's Drum: Tales of the East African Bundu (New Westminster: Zebra Publishing House, 2004)

The Sampan Girl (Burnstown, ON: General Store Publishing House, 2001)

The Black Pit... and Beyond (Burnstown, ON: General Store Publishing House, 2000)

AWARDS: (1) 2003 Book of the Year Award from SeaWaves Magazine (2) The Sampan Girl, 3rd place for Non-Fiction Book, 1995 in Pacific Northwest Writers Association (Seattle) Literary Contest; and (3) The Black Pit ... and Beyond, Honorary mention for Non-Fiction Book, 1994 , PNWA (Seattle) Literary Contest

[BCBW 2005] "War"

[Zebra Publishing House, 413-3 Rialto Court, New Westminster, BC V3M 6P2]