Author: Ken Fleming

Ken Fleming was born in Sydney and came of age in the “60s with the Beatles, Searchers, Kinks and Easybeats. He was a late bloomer and went to University in the mid “70s, studying economics and finance. His first son, Stefan, was born in 1985 and Adrian followed in 1990. He remarried in 1996 to Dianne. Jack was born in November of that year followed by Matthew in 1998. Ken and Dianne moved with Jack and Matthew to Hobart in 2000, the same year their twins, Chris and Hugh, were born. Ken is a director of several companies and an investor in several Tasmanian food, alcohol and telecommunications companies. Ken always thought that there would come a time when he would retire and write a book – one with a happy ending. Jack”s Story doesn”t have a happy ending, but Ken told Jack he would save his life and write a book and the book is the only promise that survived. After he died, Ken sat in Jack”s room with the door shut, a bottle of whisky and a box of tissues, and his fingers started to tap the keys – tap, tap, tap tapppppppppppp!!! Over three days of very painful reminisces and emotional depths only parents that have lost children can understand, a draft manuscript evolved. Ken”s singular purpose and misplaced ideology was to create something that in some miraculous way could save a life and correct an imbalance in the universe created by Jack”s death. He knew it was nutty as he is not driven by religious or spiritual ideologies, but a loss that is unrequited and that can only be made good if another death could be avoided. How that happens he had no idea but, after a box of tissues and a bottle of whisky, it seemed to make sense. Ken”s wife, Dianne, hasn”t read the book and probably never will. She has said she lived through it and can”t live through it again.