Murder On Lewis Road by John Terry

Murder On Lewis Road by John Terry

A coming-of-age story set in the mid-sixties, revolving around young John Terry, one of seven siblings in an Irish Catholic family growing up in the seaside village of Northport, nestled on the north shore of Long Island, NY

Young John's world was chock full of crazy relatives, wonderful family friends, scary neighbors, the Catholic Church, those damn Kennedys, a midget, a spider monkey, girls, the beautiful village and town docks of Northport and the horrifying murder that shocked his small town to its core and sent his family into a tailspin.

In the summer of 1965 Northport was a time-forgotten, seaside hamlet about 50 miles due east of New York City. The Vietnam War was starting to rage, drugs, rock music and the hippie movement were all in full swing. Northport, however, was still a small village, seemingly insulated from the outside world where most families knew each other and many fathers either worked on the water or broke their backs at Steers Sand and Gravel.

It was a town where parents never thought twice about letting their young kids run wild for hours outside, playing together or fishing down at the town docks. It was a town where all the Main Street merchants knew you by your first name and you were taught at an early age that you could count on any of them to help you if you got yourself into a jam.

Northport was a wonderful, special world for a young boy to grow up in but as usual, life had a way of throwing John a few curveballs. One such curveball was a horrific murder that hit way too close to home.

These are his stories of Murder On Lewis Road and Growing Up Northport.

John Terry was brought up by his parents on a private housing estate in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. At weekends and during school holidays he stayed with his uncle and aunt on a 500-acre farm in Leicestershire. His uncle was a farm manager and John, from a very early age, enjoyed all aspects of farm and country life.

John left school at 18 and went to work on another farm before attending a 3-year college course at Worcester to become a Rural Studies teacher. He went back to the school he attended as a pupil to teach Rural Studies and remained there for the whole of his teaching career, which was 25 years. He was head of department and taught agriculture, horticulture and environmental studies, setting up a thriving school farm.

At the same time, he wrote four hilarious books about life on the school farm. In 1989 he purchased a field that had not been farmed for a number of years, with no electricity, no farm buildings and a very poor water supply. The field was soon cultivated, grassed and a poultry unit installed for free-range laying hens. Over the years, the poultry enterprise increased. In addition, both pedigree Kerry Hill and Derbyshire Gritstone sheep have been bred and shown, winning numerous championships.

John's enthusiasm, determination, intelligence, humour and excellent communication skills have been apparent in all his endeavours, as he has proven himself to be a good farmer, establishing a farm of which he can be proud. John is good at getting what he wants - he gained planning permission for a mobile home on his site, which he lived in before he got planning permission for a permanent bungalow.

Over the years, his farm land has increased to 13.92 ha (34.5 acres), and now includes a field to grow arable crops. He has always had an integrated life, formerly close to his parents and now close to his wife, Sarah, and his children, Jonathan and Roseanna. His family are involved in everything he does.