Press release from York Press, 9 October 2014 by Stephen Lewis
READERS of The Press will know Phil Shepherdson as one of our more genial and perceptive letters page correspondents.
The retired pharmaceutical technician and civil servant is also a keen amateur astronomer, however.
He once made a telescope out of baked bean cans, coat hanger wire, and glass blanks that he ground and polished himself. It now sits in the Science Museum, close to Isaac Newton's telescope.
The 64-year-old from Woodthorpe also campaigned to save the Newall telescope at Athens' Pendeli Observatory, which had been built in York in 1862 by Thomas Cooke but was threatened by Greek budget cuts.
"I attempted to highlight its plight and had much support from eminent figures such as sir Patrick Moore and Allan Chapman," he said. "The telescope has now been saved."
As of tomorrow, Friday, the father-of-three will add a new string to his bow - by becoming a published novelist.
Appropriately enough for someone who enjoys star gazing, his book EarthZoo is a science fiction thriller about aliens who come to save the Earth.
"Extra-terrestrials have always been given a bad press," he said. "This story sets the record straight."
York's King's Square is pivotal to the plot, which revolves around an alcoholic drifter named Ross.
"His life changed forever when he becomes involved with a mysterious organisation called the 'Watchers'," Phil said. "Then he falls helplessly in love - with a girl he has yet to meet."
Earth Zoo is published by Rusty Penny Books priced £7.99. The book launch will be on Friday from 4-7pm at No 84 Café Micklegate.
Further reading:
Astronomy Now magazine, THE NEWALL TELESCOPE: A STORY OF SURVIVAL
October 2014
The Science Museum, Cosmos and Culture exhibition - Bean tin telescope!
The Guardian, 'The lunar cooker meets the tin-can telescope'
York Mix ‘I was abducted by aliens’ – York writer recalls life-changing encounter
York Press, 'Lens of History' on the Newall Telescope, 2005
The Guardian, Bedwyr Williams: why I'm taking a space observatory to Venice
Review of a talk on astronomy: 'The Starry Messenger: Two rare books head to Wales for a day in the limelight'
British Astronomical Association, Lunar Section Circular with images of the moon
