I feel deeply sorry to record here the death last Thursday of writer Malcolm Jones who was in his late sixties. Malcolm was a Rhyl lad, his father Dougie ran the rates department of the local council. Around 1960 as a teenager Malcolm was a pop/rock drummer with a group named The Dolphins, which gained a reputation for being ahead of its time, and he evolved into a local entertainment agent and manager.Malcolm became best known for creative writing; he was a tutor in the subject. A couple of years ago a collection of his poems was published as ‘Across Surrendered Ground’. In 1992 he brought out ‘When The Sea Came By’ about the Towyn floods disaster of 1990. Back in the mid 1980s he produced a children’s story set in Rhyl: ‘Norman And The Seagull’ with illustrations by Jim Taylor.
In recent years Malcolm seemed reclusive and plagued by illness and his own demons. Last time I saw him was in 2007; he was hospitalised at the Alex after a domestic accident. ‘We must do a project together,’ he said, ‘Give me your phone number. When I get out of here I’ll get in touch’. He never did and I knew he wouldn’t. Malcolm had past the point of organising himself to that extent.
My thanks to retired musician and ex-Secretary of the North Wales Coast branch of Musicians’ Union, Morgan Borthwick, for letting me know that Malcolm had passed away.
Photo: Sunset at Rhyl by Kaybiwan.
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