Tolkien 2005 Committee

Andy first read The Lord of the Rings at university in 1974 when his girlfriend Helen (wife since 1975) firmly recommended it to him. He started one evening, and was still reading the next morning when he realised it was time to go to a maths lecture. The Lord of the Rings was the first fantasy novel that he had enjoyed more than his normal fare of science fiction.

When life seems less than perfect, he says he finds the philosophy inherent in The Lord of the Rings to be, like lembas, sustaining.

He was at first bemused by The Tolkien Society, but came to find more and deeper friendship among Tolkien Society members than elsewhere.

Since the early 1980s, when Oxonmoot was in the Town Hall, he has provided the sound system for Oxonmoot. Since 1997, he has also been webmaster of The Tolkien Society, after being appointed (with absolutely no prior experience) when Lester Simons, who started the site, died unexpectedly.

In real life he works as a consultant electronics designer, and, more recently, web site designer. Offers of freelance work gratefully received!