Tyke life and humour according to Austin Mitchell

Oct 2 2009 by Hilarie Stelfox, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Tyke life and humour according to Austin

A collector of Yorkshire dialect books and a member of the Yorkshire Dialect Society, he shares the view of many that the days of traditional dialects are numbered.

“What’s happening is that communities are breaking down and people are much more mobile than they were.

“Our kids were brought up in Halifax and Grimsby but they all live in London now,’’ said Austin, who has two daughters from his first marriage and a son and daughter with his wife Linda McDougall, a fellow journalist and writer.

Because of this he says it is largely the older generation who appreciate his humorous books.

“Yorkshire humour reflects a harder way of life that older people can remember. They appreciate the jokes. When I worked for YTV we had a Yorkshire jokes competition and we were flooded out with entries,’’ he said.

As an MP Austin is an accomplished political speaker but he promises to deliver plenty of Yorkshire humour and jokes at our literary luncheon.

He says: “No other county, country or continent has so much wit and wisdom. They revolve around the absolute basics of death, disease, defeats at cricket, diarrhoea, debt, depression and the dole.’’

If you’d like a last-minute ticket for the event at the Galpharm Stadium – a few are still available – either call at our customer reception office in Queen Street South or telephone 01484 430000. Tickets are £25 and include a three-course meal with coffee. Our other speakers are former schools inspector Gervase Phinn; chick lit writer Lucy-Anne Holmes; science-fiction and detective author Malcolm Rose, and Lynne Green, biographer of potter David Roberts.

The lunch starts at noon and will end with a book signing.