Love is all around for veteran blind cartoonist and author from Tring

Fred Jefferies, 87, who lives in Tring with his wife Nora, has been a member of the Cartoonist’s Club of Great Britain since 1962.

But in 2001, told he was losing his sight, Fred retired from his job as a freelance artist.

In the last few years, he has combined his love of drawing with stories about love.

“I enjoy it,” said Fred, who has six grandchildren.

“It’s quite fun and as my wife said to me: ‘I live with my head in the clouds, but when I come down, I draw with my heart.

“This life of drawing really started when I took a humorous drawing course with this French fella.

“He always insisted that good drawing has to go with good humour and the ‘magic of line’.

“I still do the art, but I’m already on my third book now – that will be released next year.”

Fred, who was called up for National Service in 1947, published his first book - Love Bites - in 2015.

He has received support from Blind Veterans UK, the national charity for vision-impaired ex-service men and women, to get back into drawing.

And he is donating all proceeds from his second cartoon book to the charity to thank it for its support.

Love Is Small Talk, available online at www.bookguild.co.uk, is described as a “collection of humorous observations on love in all its guises.”