After leaving Presidents in 1963, I had glandular fever very badly. For the past few years I had been working all day as a hairdresser and working all night as a musician. The wear and tear of this probably led to my illness. Soon after my recovery I became manager of Fisher Hairdressing. Meanwhile I had started dating Connie, whom (as you know) he worked with. However, what you probably don't know, is that her friend, Barbara, who had taken a fancy to Eric Archer, coerced her to date him, but in the event they dated only once, while Connie and I went on to get married.

Connie and I married in 1966, and honeymooned in Spain. On our return we rented a flat in Ashtead, Surrey, and continued to worked as hairdressers but no longer together; Connie worked in Knightsbridge, while I remained in Epsom. In 1970, we bought our first home in Epsom, where we still live today. The house cost £8250 (bought to some extent with my savings as a teenage musician), and for a while were very poor because of the mortgage repayments. When finances improved we spent our holidays travelling and playing golf, visiting many countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, and America.

I became very good at golf and played for the Ford Amateur England Team in 1981, at Lytham St. Annes. I won the L'Oreal Golf Trophy in 1985 - the prize was a fully-paid weekend to the Ryder Cup at Belfry, Staffs, where I met and dined with the European team including Steve B, Nick Faldo, Tony Jacklin etc., even meeting my hero, Henry Cotton.

By the mid-seventies, finances having recovered, Connie and I began to spend long periods in Kenya. Being friends with the UK Director of Kenya Airways (cheap flights) helped, as did staying with African friends, but much of the money came from my gambling on myself in golf matches.

I had by now become a director of Fisher Hairdressing, working mainly for the Epsom and Guildford salons. In 1982, Connie developed breast cancer, which brought renewed strength to a marriage which had been coming under pressure from work. Her tumour was hormone-related, which meant that the
hormonal changes involved in having a child could possibly have killed her; Connie and I decided not to have children.

The cancer went away. The hairdressing prospered and in 1991, I opened my own salon in Epsom. In 1997, Connie's father bought her a cottage in Gloucestershire, where we often spend weekends.

I still have a piano, but now seldom play. Sometimes ! ride Connie's horse, a 17hh T.B. More than often I play golf, golf and golf. Nothing spectacular has happened in the past decade; a few visits to our U.S. favourite haunt, Las Vegas. Connie and I remain very well content.

J.S. '00

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