About Derek Brockis

The author is 73, retired, married with two daughters and two grandsons. Lives in a house built in the grounds of an old village rectory in Surrey, England, three minutes walk from the village centre with its two inns which remain open all day. His main hobby is reading French and German literature.

During National Service, Derek was a Flying Officer in the Armaments Branch of the Royal Air Force, declined the offer of a permanent commission and joined industry. He became Managing Director of an international company in the Reckitt and Colman group. Later he joined Alcan Aluminium and eventually retired as Marketing Services Manager in a group company specialising in aircraft alloys and chemicals.

Fifteen years ago, while browsing around a charity book shop he came across an old French book on La Bête. Realising what a great monster mystery it was, he started, as a hobby to write articles and tried to make the story popular in English speaking countries, because it is almost unknown outside France. Since then he has had several articles on La Bête published and his small website has been widely copied and used, for example as a hotel advertisement in the Cevennes.

For pleasure and to practice the French language Derek spent six months translating into English the famous book on La Bête written in 1889 by Abbé Pourcher. This is by far the main work on the subject and is used as reference by all seriously interested parties. He would like to see Pourcher published in English so this magnificent monster mystery grows and is preserved world wide. He has so far been unsuccessful in achieving this.

E-mail Mr. Derek Brockis
d.brockis@ntlworld.com
dbrockis@msn.com