10:00am Thursday 31st December 2009
By Tyrone Marshall
FAN LETTERS sent to a musical star of the 60s are set to be reproduced in his autobiography.
Dozens of neatly decorated letters and envelopes will feature in Dave Berry’s book, which charts his five decades as a professional entertainer.
The letters and envelopes were sent to Dave between 1964 and 1966 from Nelson schoolgirl Judy Eggleton, who lived in Every Street at the time.
Dave said that the letters from Judy always stood out from the rest because of the elaborate artwork on them, that often depicted images and words from his songs.
Now the singer, who will be touring again this year, is trying to track Judy down to thank her for the letters and present her with a signed copy of the book, Dave Berry - All There Is To Know.
After that he plans to frame all the letters and envelopes from Judy and put them on display.
Some of the letters were sent to Dave at his home, near Sheffield, but the majority were sent to his mum, Bessie Grundy.
The book charts Dave’s rise from being a teenage apprentice welder in Sheffield in the late 1950s through to his top ten hits just years later.
He is most famous in this country for his 1964 rendition of The Crying Game, but he also had number one hits in Belgium and Holland.
His songs also included Mama and Little Things which both reached number 5 in Britain.
Dave said: “The Sixties were fantastic, but you couldn't really put things in perspective at the time, they just happened.
“My most enjoyable times have arrived in more recent years when I have had nothing to prove, except to myself.
"I’ve performed on the QE2, toured Australia several times and have always been busy playing to my fans closer to home.”
* Dave Berry - All There Is To Know will be released on February 22 and priced at £14.99.
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