The Last Foundling: An Extraordinary Life - Tapa blanda

Survivors of institutionalised childcare are the exception. We expect them to be losers. Today, 60% are either criminals, homeless, or suicidal. Yet Tommy is a survivor. His story provides an uplifting demonstration of the power of perseverance. Starting life on the lowest run, he saw only one way to go... It was in 1739 that Britain s first childcare provider, the Foundling Hospital led by its almost saintly founder, Captain Thomas Coram began its pioneering work. Tommy passed into its care as a weeks old baby exactly two centuries later in its last intake of institutionalised children. His particular misfortune was to be born to a mother who was not married. The Last Foundling: An Extraordinary Life has been applauded by public figures including Gary Streeter MP, British Member of Parliament for South West Devon, and Michael Krasny, host of award-winning San Francisco National Public Radio show Forum and Professor of English at San Francisco State University, who has remarked: Tom Mackenzie s The Last Foundling is a moving and compelling story told with authenticity and verve. One is perhaps more apt to associate the author s early autobiographical experiences with a Dickensian world or the title with something out of Fielding s Tom Jones, but the story is indeed unmistakably a modern one and one definitely to reckon with. What especially comes across in these varied adventures is Tom Mackenzie s humanity, vitality and spirit all of which are considerable and impressive.

Thomas Humphrey Mackenzie, born in London, 1939, grew up in the Foundling Hospital. His class was the hospital s very last after more than 200 years of institutionalised childcare. After a spell in the Army, Tom became active in business and continues in a hands-on roll to this day. He enjoys foreign travel and penning poetry. On the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, he wrote a poem to commemorate that extraordinary feat of arms and is greatly honoured that it has found a home in the Battle of Britain Museum. A sports enthusiast, Tom has enjoyed skiing, scuba diving, tennis, cycling and has owned his own hang-glider. He has also opened several health clubs, as well as one of the country s top ski centres which continues to be a regional attraction to this day. But after over 50 years in business, at the age of 72 he was invited to become a weekly columnist for The Plymouth Herald newspaper. His columns are published weekly in print and can also be found on his blog, lastfoundling.com, as well as the paper s online home, thisisplymouth.co.uk. Tom has been married four times (two unhappy and two happy, one of which was cut short by bereavement). He has three surviving children, having lost one in infancy.