Weston author Nick Smart writes ‘David Bowie – The Collector’

Nick Smart, a fan of the artist since the late 70s, wrote ‘David Bowie - The Collector’ after speaking to dozens of people who worked with the Starman to understand what inspired his music.

Nick’s work presents Bowie as revealed by the testimony of his closest friends and partners - a Bowie with humour, grace and humility and a highly focused Bowie - a borrower of ideas combining disparate ideas from multiple sources creating new visions.

He said: “I have been a fan for years, since the late 1970s.

“Just after Bowie died, my uncle and I started a magazine. Then what happened was we interviewed dozens and dozens of people who worked with him.

“I was reading a book about Bowie once, and the forward said the author had spoken to seven or eight people, I said, ‘I spoke to dozens, I should write a book’.

The cover of the book that will be published in November (Image: Contributed)

“Bowie was a unique artist. One of the very first to come out as bi-sexual and gave other people permission to express it.

“There was always an element of theatre, with Bowie was more about the artifice, the performance.

"He was a collector in the sense he was gathering information and details.

“We put out on social media that we were working on a book.

"Then Kat and I went to a Woody Woodmansey book signing, he was Bowie’s drummer.

“I bought three books and chatted a bit and he said, ‘let me know if you need any help’.

“It was surprisingly easy to get the information. Bowie chose his friends really well, they were the loveliest people, very generous with their time.

“Bowie seemed always quite aloof and indifferent, but it came out through the research that he was fun and ordinary."

Nick and his uncle also publish a magazine about Bowie. Nick’s wife Kathrine takes care of the design.

The book, edited by McNidder & Grace Sales, will be published on November 21 and will be available online.