All I Ask is a Tall Ship

Michael Walsh traces his Liverpool family roots back to 1865, the year his great grandmother arrived in the city from Ireland. Both parents were passionately immersed in the politics of the period. His father, Patrick, fought in four conflicts. An associate of war correspondent Ernest Hemingway and Irish playwright Sean O'Casey, he was to twice marry Kathleen Walsh. Her friends included Spanish revolutionary 'La Pasionaria' Dolores Ibarruri.Upon leaving school at fifteen-years of age Michael spent ten weeks at the Merchant Navy School for Sailors. What followed were years at sea during which he was to travel to over sixty countries.In his home port the Beatles and the Mersey Sound were putting Liverpool firmly on the world map. The Earthlings, its bass guitarist being his youngest brother, appeared at The Cavern and other Liverpool city clubs.Michael became familiar, friendly or associated with those whose names are now synonymous with the period. Cy Tucker and George, the Hillsiders, Karl Terry, Earl Preston, John and Pat Cordwell, Les and Tricia Brown of Coopers Emporium, the legendary jazz guitarist Gary Potter, balladeer Charlie Landsborough. Then there was Roger Phillips of BBC Radio Merseyside, the boxing and football legends Dom Volante and Dixie Dean. Others with whom he has mixed included actor Ricky Tomlinson, Frankie O'Connor, Jukebox Box Eddie who played with Gerry Lee Lewis. Noreen, Michael's sister, was an inseparable friend of Anita Cochrane. A daily visitor to Michael's family home, Anita went on to bear the child of Paul McCartney's talented child. Between 1999 - 2000 Michael's poetry collections were selling more quickly than any other contemporary or classical poetry anthology. In just one city, 3,000 copies of A Sea Veneer of Merseyside and Believin' of Liverpool were snapped up in a few weeks. In 2011 Michael was awarded 'Writer of the Year' by the publishers of Europe's highest circulation free newspaper. He has authored ten books and ghost-written more than a score of novels and biographies. His Heart to Heart Volumes 1, 2 and 3 are now firm favourites. All I Ask is a Tall Ship is soon to be joined by two further collections. What is the spectre behind the success of Michael's verse? The gifted essayist searched for the Holy Grail until he discovered it. He smiles, "The secret in my success was to compose verse that everyone can relate to. There is no greater pleasure than hearing it said, 'I never read or liked poetry until I read yours."All I Ask is a Tall Ship collection preoccupies itself with the call of the sea, the Maritime Port of Liverpool, and the characters who moulded Michael's character through his earlier years as a young Liverpool sailor. Thousands of tributes have been paid to him. They pour in from all over the world and reflect all social classes. Remarkably, those most passionate about his poetry have in the past been disinterested in poetry. In this respect, international poetry owes a great deal to Michael's skill as a writer who truly connects with his readership.