Jan Hurst-Nicholson

About

Jan Hurst-Nicholson has been reliably informed that website biographies are usually written in the third person, giving them the air of being penned by an authoritative third party (allowing the author carte-blanche to embellish without the restraints of false modesty).

Hurst-Nicholson is the author of several published books, both children’s and adult, and of numerous articles, humorous articles and short stories (some of which have won awards – modest cough and pause for applause), plus an occasional dip into poetry. While volunteering in a charity bookshop, customers often asked for ‘something to read on the plane,’ so she put together a compilation of her published stories and articles, added some other fun stuff and titled the book ‘Something to Read on the Plane.’ Three of the short stories are chapters adapted from her novel But Can You Drink The Water? which was a semi-finalist in the 2010 ABNA contest (top 50 out of 5000 entries).

Personal awards: Voted ‘humorist of the year’ by the immediate family, and ‘chuckle-maker of the day’ by a customer perusing “Something to Read on the Plane’ in a check-out queue.

Hurst-Nicholson was born in the UK but now lives in South Africa with a spouse, two dogs that are forever on the wrong side of the door, three elderly cats, and the occasional visiting troop of boisterous vervet monkeys.

Involution-An Odyssey Reconciling Science to God

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“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience.”(Teilhard de Chardin)Involution-An Odyssey Reconciling Science to God is as layered as a French cassoulet, as diverting, satisfying and as rich. Each reader will spoon this book differently. On the surface it seems to be a simple and light-hearted poetic journey through the history of Western thought, dominantly scientific, but enriched with painting and music. Beneath that surface is the sauce of a new evolutionary idea, involution; the informing of all matter by consciousness, encoded and communicating throughout the natural world. A book about the cathedral of consciousness could have used any language to paint it, but science is perhaps most in need of new vision, and its chronology is already familiar.The author offers a bold alternative vision of both science and creation: she suggests that science has been incrementally the recovery of memory, the memory of evolution/involution.“ Involution proposes that humans carry within them the history of the universe, which is (re)discovered by the individual genius when the time is ripe. All is stored within our DNA and awaits revelation. Such piecemeal revelations set our finite lives in an eternal chain of co-creation and these new leaps of discovery are compared to mystical experience” (From a reviewer)Each unique contributor served the collective and universal return to holism and unity. Thus the geniuses of the scientific journey, like the spiritual visionaries alongside, have threaded the rosary of science with the beads of inspiration, and through them returned Man to his spiritual nature and origin.The separation between experience and the rational intellect of science has, by modelling memory as theory, separated its understanding from the consciousness of all, and perceives mind and matter as separate, God and Man as distinct. This work is a dance towards their re-unification: Saints and scientists break the same bread.All of time and all the disciplines of science are needed for the evidence. Through swift (and sometimes sparring) Cantos of dialogue between Reason and Soul, Philippa Rees takes the reader on a monumental journey through the history of everything – with the evolution of man as one side of the coin and involution the other. The poetic narrative is augmented by learned and extensive footnotes offering background knowledge which in themselves are fascinating. In effect there are two books, offering a right and left brain approach. The twin spirals of a DNA shaped book intertwine external and internal and find, between them, one journey, Man’s recovery of Himself., and (hopefully) the Creation’s recovery of a nobler Man.From the same review “The reader who finishes the book will not be the same as the one who began it. New ideas will expand the mind but more profoundly, the deep, moving power of the verse will affect the heart.(Marianne Rankin: Director of Communications, Alister Hardy Trust)

Story Behind The Book

While working as a volunteer in a charity bookshop I would often help customers who came in looking for ‘something to read on the plane’. After conducting a comprehensive undercover survey in doctors’ and dentists’ waiting rooms, and watching incorrigible magazine readers who do their reading at magazine counters, I discovered that readers like the humor, letters and agony aunt pages. Those who actually buy the magazines prefer to sit down with a cup of coffee to enjoy the articles and short stories. This inspired me to give readers a bit of what they fancy, and I put together a collection of my articles and stories.

Media Links

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Reviews

‘Should be compulsory reading to keep incorrigible chatters quiet’ – Frequent Flyer ‘Could also be used to ram down their throats’ – Flight Attendant. ‘The stories about me are hugely exaggerated’ – Author’s Spouse. ‘Shredded drafts of this book line my litter tray. Royalties from this book will go towards proper deodorized litter and reduce complaints about the smell’ – Family Cat ‘What a relief that will be’ – Family Dog. “It would make a perfect traveling and holiday companion. The quirky short stories – some a little naughty – might well prove the book’s strong point.” The Mercury. “Covering a diverse range of subjects, and written in a feel-good style, it’s little and can slip into a travel bag and be dipped into in-flight.” Daily News “It’s flying off the shelves.” Write Now. “There are short stories to suit all tastes, from humour to crime.” Berea News “Something to Read on the Plane is a collection of delightful short stories to take the tedium out of flying and provide reading pleasure anywhere else.” The Independent on Saturday.

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