DUNMANWAY couple Harry (Sonny) and Mary Maybury – widely regarded as West Cork’s original entrepreneurs – are celebrated in a new book with proceeds going to the Air Ambulance.
Spins is a heart-warming, nostalgic and entertaining account of the Maybury family, from humble beginnings to purchasing the town’s Parkway Hotel. The reader is transported back in time when family, friendship, and community were first and foremost.
Written by the couple’s youngest child, Sandra, the book features a collection of memories from family, friends and former employees as well as well-known names including X Factor judge Louis Walsh and Daniel O’Donnell.
Retired Southern Star editor Con Downing, who penned the foreword, said their story ‘resonates a certain universality.’
‘While it is not quite the proverbial rags to riches, it tells the story of a young couple, who started from humble beginnings, but carved out successful niches for themselves across a variety of enterprises, providing a lot of employment along the way; they were entrepreneurs ever before the word became prominent in the lexicon of business terminology,’ he said. Sandra said that over the years, she heard so many stories being told by her parents or about her parents. ‘When I was younger I paid little heed to them. However, as I’ve got older and as my parents have got older, I started to appreciate those stories. For years, we joked about all these stories saying “Ah, you could write a book”. Then last Christmas, something just clicked and I thought I would, so the stories wouldn’t get forgotten.
‘I would really encourage anyone reading this book to talk to their elders. Life is busy and we can easily get swept away in the busyness of life, until it is too late. Yes, my parents have done so much in their lives, but so have many others.’
All profits from book sales go to the Irish Community Air Ambulance. ‘What I have gained from writing this book, money could not buy,’ added Sandra.
‘It has been a fabulous experience. I wanted a charity to benefit from the profits of the book and I couldn’t think of a more worthy charity than the Irish Community Air Ambulance.’
• Spins is available in Dunmanway, and from book shops in West Cork, as well as online at buythebook.ie for €16.95 plus postage.
