David Gardiner (Sirat)
From Writers of the World
David is one of UKAuthors old brigade, in both senses. Born 16th April 1947, a member of the site pretty well since time began. His screen name Sirat is a reference to his one and only novel, "Sirat", which is a sci fi story about the first emergence on earth of artificial consciousness, and the impact of the event on human society. A tag line was "How will humankind react to having a god for a neighbour?". Mostly though he is a short story writer with one collection in print ('The Rainbow Man and Other Stories') and another on the way ('The Other End of the Rainbow').
David's murky origins in Belfast are shrouded in mystery. Only his accent remains as a dead give-away.
David has helped with UKA Press in a number of capacities and is presently the Treasurer. He has a fairly large back catalogue of stories on UKAuthors.com and a few more on his (large and rambling) personal home page at [1].
David is the organiser of the annual UKAway holiday. You can find information about the 2008 holiday here: [2]. He is also involved in the organisation of the annual UKAlive get-together in London.
David lives in Walthamstow with partner Jean and (at present) a lodger named Anika who has taken the place of his 26-year-old daughter Cherelle, now living a couple of miles down the road. The household also includes Veiled Chameleon Charlotte and a number of tropical fish.
David's interests include science and science fiction, film, IT, philosophy, psychology, travel, SCUBA diving, photography, wildlife, DIY, cooking and contemporary folk music.
Favourite books: The Four Million (O Henry), all the other works of O Henry, To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee), Flowers for Algernon (Daniel Keyes), all the works of Kurt Vonnegut, Clifford Simak and A J Cronin, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (Muriel Spark), The Last Picture Show (Larry McMurtry), The Illustrated Man (Ray Bradbury), Trainspotting (Irvine Welsh), all the works of Seán Ó Faoláin, Frank O'Connor and Liam O'Flaherty, Of Mice and Men (John Steinbeck), Conjectures and Refutations (Karl Popper), The Open Society and its Enemies (Karl Popper), The Law of Freedom (Gerrard Winstanley), Walden (Henry David Thoreau).
Favourite music: Janis Ian. Leonard Cohen, Dory Previn, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Emiliana Torrini, Suzanne Vega, Ralph McTell, Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, Don McLean, Leon Rossellson, Logana 13 on YouTube, Rick Hayter, Melanie Safka, Katie Melua, Luli Chouhy, Eva Cassidy, Allison Crowe.
Favourite films: The Last Picture Show, The Godfather, Solaris (Russian version), Space Odyssey, Cinema Paradiso, The Citadel (1938), Sunset Boulevard, The Third Man, Citizen Kane, It Happened Here, The Pawnbroker, Music Box, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Son's Room, The Magdalene Sisters, Metropolis, Modern Times, Land and Freedom, Cabaret, Oh What a Lovely War, Torch Song Trilogy, Jesus Christ Superstar, Norma Jean, McCabe and Mrs Miller, Citizen Kane, Schindler's List.
