Don’t hold the front page! was the title. But the launch of Dad’s book did make news in 2005. Published by Graffeg, it’s an amusing tale of Bob Skinner’s 60 years in the communications business. First, as a journalist on the Penarth Times and South Wales Argus. (Not to mention life as a ‘stringer’ for the national media and an early BBC Wales tv reporter.) Then as a public relations pioneer in local government and civic life in Wales and London.

The book tells how he bought porn on the rates, dodged the bullets in Northern Ireland during the troubled 1970s and helped the Pope enjoy a successful visit to Wales.

Bob launched the publication of his book in the Washington Gallery in Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan, last September. It was a great night, with friends and family celebrating a unique talent. Lorraine Barrett, Welsh Assembly Member for Cardiff South and Penarth, and Captain Norman Lloyd-Edwards, Lord Lieutenant for Glamorgan, made a special effort to join us for the evening. 

You can buy Don’t hold the front page! in bookshops or on www.amazon.co.uk.