COWMAN WRITES BOOK

Wairarapa Times-Age, 12 June 1940, Page 9

COWMAN WRITES BOOK

AUTOBIOGRAPHY ACCLAIMED. A cowman employed on a farm near Worksop, Nottinghamshire, has become famous as an author. He is Fred Kitchen, and his autobiography. “Brother to the Ox.” just published, is acclaimed by London reviewers as the "Book of the Week.” Asked what it felt like to be suddenly famous, he replied: "It is rather like plunging into a cold river. It is the thinking about it that is bad. When you are in you are all in a warm glow." But he preferred to talk about the animals he tends rather than about his own success. He was born to the land and has worked on the land for practically the whole of his working life. He has lived in a little cottage with his wife, three daughters and a son for the last ten years. He wrote his book to the light of an oil lamp. "It took me from Christmas to Easter - working nearly every night to write the book.” he said. “My wife says I sometimes worked all night, but that was only once or twice), when I got so interested that I forgot to go to bed.” In spite of the reviews praising his work, Mr Kitchen has not jumped to the conclusion that his fortune is made. “It is true that I have been told that I have a style all my own.” he said. "But I realise that the ’Brother of the Ox' just happens to be something that only, a farm worker could write.”