After a packed life in which he’s been a policeman, lorry driver and raunchy crime novelist, 75-year-old Bob Lakin has now become one of the University of Winchester’s oldest undergraduates.
Proving it’s never too late to learn, he’s just started a three-year course in Philosophy, Religion and Ethics and is studying with fellow students who are younger than some of his grandchildren.
Winchester-born Bob left school in Romsey in the 1960s with no qualifications and worked in a series of jobs including brewer and mechanic before being employed at Fawley Refinery where he became a plant technical controller.
Aged 28 he opted for a complete career change and joined the police. Bob spent most of his service with the Metropolitan Police in London and having learned French (inspired by his love of Edith Piaf songs) he finished up working for Interpol, based at Scotland Yard, investigating international art thefts.
He left the force after 20 years and became a lorry driver, hauling containers out of Southampton docks. His time as a trucker gave him plenty of chances to think.
Bob said: “I’ve always read books on philosophy and been interested in why we are here. The sleeper cab of a truck is like a monastic cell - there is plenty of time for contemplation.”
However, philosophy had to wait while Bob embarked on his next career – writer.
Adopting the pen name of Emma Calen, he called on his police experience to pen a series of romantic crime novels under the umbrella title Passion Patrol. The books, which Bob admits are ‘quite raunchy’, are still in print and have been translated into several different languages.
Bob returned to education after 60 years when he enrolled in a philosophy course at Peter Symonds College.
“I’ll admit that I was quite relieved that I could keep up with the work,” said Bob.
A successful return to education spurred Bob to contact the University of Winchester’s admissions department to ask them frankly if he would be wasting his time applying to do a degree.
“I told them about my experience, and they were very encouraging and told me to go for it,” said Bob.
Now he’s embarked on a course which he should finish aged 78.
Bob says he has now expectations of starting a new career in philosophy but explained: “People are the community and I’m looking forward to becoming more educated and adding value to that community.
“If nothing else it will make me a more interesting dinner guest!”
Dr Timothy Secret, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Winchester, said: “In subjects like philosophy and religion, we are always particularly delighted when a mature student like Bob joins our community, as we know the discussions will be so much richer for the whole group due to the life experience they bring into the room.
“We’re particularly proud to have had several retirees join us first as undergraduates, having been outside of education for four or five decades, only for them to realise that once they are at university they never want to leave, moving onto postgraduate study and then to researching some truly exciting PhD projects."
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