Autobiography of Catholic folk legend a best seller

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The autobiography Vin Garbutt wrote in his final years has been reprinted three times after reaching the number one slot on Amazon.

Folk legend Vin died on June 6 2017 at the age 69 after undergoing heart surgery at James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough. More than 800 mourners packed St Mary's cathedral in Middlesbrough for his funeral Mass.

He had begun working on All The Very Best! with the help of journalist Michael McGeary in 2014 and the first draft was completed a few days before Vin died.

Just under 1,000 hardback copies were pre-ordered by folk fans as far away as Australia and Canada and have been shipped across the world from Loftus, North Yorkshire, by Vin's wife, Pat. A second hardback print run is now on sale, along with the third batch of paperbacks. The book has a five-star Amazon rating and topped the online retailer's Biographies of Folk Musicians chart.

Born in South Bank, Middlesbrough, on November 20 1947, Vin became known as the funniest man on the worldwide folk scene.

But while his patter was hilarious, his songs were often deadly serious, tackling issues from unemployment in the North-East to oppression and injustice wherever he saw it in the world.

He recorded 12 studio albums and three live albums and was the subject of a full-length feature film, Teesside Troubadour.

He was the first British folk artist to tour Australia and he played to packed out venues across the globe. In 2001 he was named Best Live Act at the 2001 BBC Folk Awards and received an honorary degree from Teesside University.

But he was equally proud of the Benemerenti medal he was awarded for his work for Life, for which he performed an annual fundraiser

Vin was also shunned by elements of the mainstream folk world because of his outspoken views on the issue of abortion, but he refused to be silenced, even at considerable cost to his career.

In the book, Vin says: "I'm a Catholic and happy that way. My religion means a lot to me and I have confirmed my membership of the Church in adulthood. I love the painting The Light of the World. Victorian artist William Holman Hunt depicts Christ standing outside a closed door, holding a lantern.

"To me, the message is that you have to welcome Jesus into your life - he won't force his way in. The more I open that door, the more I find out what it's all about."

In 1983, Vin recorded an album of pro-life songs, Little Innocents, and donated the proceeds to the charity Life. He continued to write and sing pro-life songs throughout his career, even though some folk clubs and festivals refused to book him.

Vin's son Louis, who has managed the project together with his mam, Pat, said: "It's been lovely to hear the positive comments from fans, many saying it's like listening to Dad talking to them through the pages of the book.

"The book truly captures Dad's spirit and his outlook on life and we're really proud of the way it's turned out."

All The Very Best! includes many previously unseen photos from Vin's life and contributions from some of Vin's friends and admirers from the folk world, including Tom Paxton, Loudon Wainwright III, Eric Bogle, Christy Moore, Mike Harding, Barbara Dixon and Jasper Carrott, as well as from fans and the people who knew Vin best.

The book is available in hardback, paperback and ebook editions from: www.vingarbutt.com.