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Mark Higgitt’s school career was spent shuttling between the art room and football pitch, after which he completed a foundation course in art, design, graphics and photography before seeking his first job as a photographer on the Bromsgrove Messenger.
Due to a misunderstanding, he came away as a trainee sports reporter. His intention was to earn enough to spend six months following the route of Gombrich’s History of Art, then head for America on a university football scholarship.
The lure of Redditch’s Mayfly pub, and the fuel tank of an ageing, primrose Austin-Healey Sprite called Norman, wrecked the travelling plan and 27 years on, having seen the inside of neither for more than two decades, he’s a 46-year-old journalist who works in Worcester and lives a quiet life in South Warwickshire with his wife and two daughters.
Through Fire and Water – his first published book – began with one devastating phone call on Cup Final Day, Saturday, May 22, 1982, and came to life with another in October 1994. Five years later, it was complete.
He has many professional television and radio appearances to his name and now combines research and writing with work, following rugby’s Worcester Warriors, and designing gardens.
how I found the agency
"I'd written a review of Duncan Falconer's book, First Into Action, for the provincial evening newspaper I was working on in 1998. In it, I offered the thought that, as the SBS didn't offer specialist courses in writing alongside other reckless skills, Duncan's ability to grip you and not let go must have been instinctive. To my surprise, as deadline loomed on morning, he called me at the office and answered the question! As I was in the final stages of researching Through Fire and Water ~ a project littered with a string of unexplained but welcome and timely coincidences ~ I took it as a sign. I spoke with Duncan's publishers to find the name of his agent, left an answerphone message for Andrew, begging some advice, and ended up becoming his latest recruit in 2000. Kismet."subscribe to agency's newsletter
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