How's about that, then? Sir Jimmy Savile

by Alison Bellamy

Publication Spring 2012

Order before 30th April to have your name (or a friend's name) printed in special tribute pages at the back of the book.

The amazing life of DJ, TV personality and charity fund-raiser extraordinaire, Sir Jimmy Savile, is set to be revealed in a new, definitive biography, written by Yorkshire Evening Post journalist, Alison Bellamy, who became a close personal friend of the icon during the last ten years of his life. The book will also raise funds for Sir Jimmy's favourite charities through a £1 donation from every copy sold.

Heavily illustrated, including never before seen family photographs, the book will trace Sir Jimmy's roller-coaster life from his birth in Leeds in 1926 to his funeral at Leeds Catholic Cathedral in November this year, which brought the city centre to a standstill and at which Alison Bellamy gave one of the readings.

Through the book, readers will discover more about Sir Jimmy's childhood as the youngest of seven children in a devout Catholic family, to his years as a 'Bevin Boy' miner and the near-fatal pit explosion that forced him out of the mines and into a new career in the dance halls of Yorkshire in the late 1940s. His fun-loving personality and intuitive skills as an entertainer led him from provincial dance halls to Radio Luxembourg and eventually to the BBC, where he hosted the first ever broadcast of Top of the Pops in 1964 and also the last airing of the music show in 2006. From 1975 to 1994, he fronted the popular TV show Jim'll Fix It, which, at its peak, attracted letters from around 20,000 children a week who wrote in with requests. Alongside his career in the glamorous world of entertainment, Sir Jimmy was also a tireless charity worker, including shifts as a volunteer hospital porter, and is estimated to have raised over £40 million for various charities.

In addition to interviews with Sir Jimmy's family, his closest group of friends and show-biz personalities, Alison Bellamy has also tracked down people who knew him in his many different guises; from those who recall his dance hall days of the 1950s to participants in Jim'll Fix It and the many people he met and worked alongside in hospitals and charity venues across the country. These personal memories help to give a unique perspective on the man behind the trademark white hair, gold jewellery, track suits and cigars.