A vintage performance

A retired Dublin teacher has just published his first novel, at the age of 83, and his ambition still burns bright, writes Rosita Boland.

In 1945, Michael Judge published his first short story, in a publication called Circle magazine. Almost 60 years later, at the age of 83, he has published his first novel, Vintage Red.

"I wanted to write a novel before I passed on," he relates, sitting over tea in the comfortable sunroom of his Dublin home. Judge is a wonderful example of how growing older does not necessitate relinquishing your life's ambitions.

Dublin-born Judge spent his nine-to-five working life teaching, and became vice principal at Coláiste Mhuire, when it was still located on Parnell Square. But he got through other work too. From the 1950s on, he was a regular contributor to RTÉ, writing his own radio plays as well as writing scripts for well-known radio and television series including Tolka Row, Harbour Hotel, Wanderly Wagon, The Riordans and Glenroe.

This was a period when the State broadcaster was the only television channel on air in much of the country, and programmes such as The Riordans had a high recognition factor.

The scriptwriting methods then were different from today. Whereas now it's usual for a team of people to work on a script, writing different scenes, then Judge would write a sequence of either two or four episodes in their entirety.

In addition to writing his own plays for radio, he also wrote stage plays. In 1966, Death is for Heroes had the distinction of being the first new play to be staged at the new Abbey building even if, as Judge says, "It didn't run very long". There's an Octopus in the Gentlemen's ran at the Peacock in 1972. And in 1970, Judge's Irish language song, D'imingh an Ghrian got as far as the National Song Contest, but was beaten by that immortal ditty, All Kinds of Everything, sung by the wee lassie from Derry.

Did he ever feel he would have liked to write full-time? "I didn't have the courage to chuck in the day job," Judge explains. "I had five children. Writing put a bit of jam on the bread, but the day job was the bread and butter."

An element of wistfulness creeps into his voice as he says this.

Despite the demands of his full-time job, Judge still managed to write some 21 radio plays, 14 television plays and nine stage plays, and to script several episodes of radio and television serials. How did he find the time?

"I got up early, usually at 6.30 a.m., I'd do an hour's writing, and then go to work. I used to get home after 4 p.m., have something to eat, go to bed for an hour and then work until midnight. I did that for years. Then I retired at 60 and worked harder than ever!"

He first got the idea for his novel, Vintage Red, about two years ago. It took him about a year to write, after which it was "hawked round" some Irish publishers, but they weren't keen. A family member suggested trying London, and Robert Hale publishing company accepted it "with great enthusiasm". Which was a great surprise, Judge admits frankly, with a wide grin. The publishing company has also expressed interest in his second novel, which he has just completed.

Vintage Red is a surprising read. He may not be another William Trevor, but Judge's experience of writing plays and scripts for most of his working life lends a tightness to the dialogue, and the plot scampers along. It tells the story of Robert McGuinness and his wife Babs, whose funeral opens the novel. McGuinness is a fine study of a person we've become sadly familiar with - the greedy, brown-envelope-pushing corrupt developer, who assumes the brown envelopes will buy him a path to whatever he wants. What McGuinness particularly wants is the directorship of Dublin's new European Gallery of Arts and Culture.

The vintage red of the title is a red Morris car that belonged to McGuinness's now deceased wife, to whom he had been consistently unfaithful. It is the only thing she owned, and it transpires that she expected someone other than a family member to claim it. Babs has left mysterious instructions with a solicitor for an ad to be placed in the Connacht Tribune after her death, with the words: "The vintage car that toured the little towns of Connacht, fuelled with love, is now for sale. The first bidder to reach the reserve price may drive the car away." And so Lucy, the only child of Babs and Robert sets about trying to solve the mystery.

There are a few vintage things in the book other than the car. Judge may be right up to date with the sorry state of our political culture, but he has an old-fashioned take on the sexes. Female secretaries have affairs with their bosses, and women are seen as home-makers. When her mother dies, Lucy thinks: "In the back of her mind there had been the vague assumption that, later on, when she had a child of her own, she and Babs would get together and share womanly thoughts and experiences and perhaps do some knitting or crochet-work." Womanly thoughts?

But the thing is, Judge is old- fashioned about the sexes because he is from an era where it was perfectly acceptable that the man worked and the woman kept house.

Despite some rather embarrassing floundering when it comes to portraying the female sex, Vintage Red is a commendable début. For a first novel at 83, Michael Judge can be proud of himself.

When asked at the end of the interview if there is anything else he would like to add, he replies instantly, "I just hope it sells." Spoken like a true writer.

Vintage Red, by Michael Judge, is published by Hale at £18.99