For many, many years after primary school - probably almost 40 years - I could find no trace of The Magic Door. Bookshops denied it existed. When the internet and Google were invented, it didn’t show up anywhere.

Then out of the blue someone I scarcely knew advised me to check out Dan Billany’s site, which I duly did and discovered not only the book but also the tragic story of its author.

But that is by no means the end of the story…