Extensive Author BIO
- General
-
Born 1942, Edgware, North London, England.
Father: Welsh, policeman (Scotland Yard detective) deceased.
Mother: Londoner, (housewife) deceased.
Sister: Born June 1944.
Raised: North London (Hendon, Edgware and Colindale).
Education: Kindergarten age 3 to 7; Bell Lane Primary, Hendon age 7 to 9; Camrose Primary, Edgware age 9 to 11; Harrow County Grammar, Harrow age 11 to 17. Took up interests in psychoanalysis and hypnotherapy in teens and still pursues today.
-
-
-
Career and Family
- 1959 Age 17, started work as trainee sales manager with distribution company in Baker Street, London. Also played jazz trombone with semi-pro bands during teens, turning pro on 19th birthday with an established traditional jazz outfit based in Bournemouth on U.K. South Coast. Returned to London after 9 months, switched to trumpet and worked with jazz and dance combos throughout Europe and on passenger ships to Europe, Africa and North America for next two years. Became featured broadcaster on BBC radio with own quintet.
1964 Age 22, realised ambition of becoming solo entertainer as trumpet/guitar/vocals cabaret act. Secured a booking in Manchester, then England's clubland capital, for a 'trial weekend' and ended up staying a year. Added comedy impressions throughout the 1960s, establishing himself as aleading musical comedy entertainer on UK night club, theatre, conference and private function circuits.
1975 Married Scottish singer Eileen Cameron. In same year had solo Hit Record 'King Of The Cops' (comedy impressions single of US TV Cops Kojak, Columbo, McCloud, Cannon, Ironside et al) which reached No. 4 and stayed in UK Top 20 for 3 months (see: www.billyhoward.tv). Headlined throughout UK, Africa and Far East in hotels, nite clubs, theatres and top cabaret venues for next 5 years.
1980 After several miscarriages, pregnant wife advised to remain in bed to ensure completion to full term. Bill quit international show business for UK sales and marketing position and to concentrate on psychology research. Daughter Annabel born same year. Bill continued in direct sales throughout the eighties, gradually expanding role to sales manager, trainer / motivator for various direct sales companies: storm and PVC windows, kitchens, bathrooms, showers, insurance etc.
1985 Started own domestic heating sales business which he grew to £½ million annual turnover within 2 years.
1989 Recession hit and after 3 years struggling to sustain it, finally wound up business in 1992.
1992 Intensified psychology research programme concentrating on analysis of American relationships.
1996 Bill commenced writing, editing and producing 'Letter To America', his thesis concerning a 'collective emotional dosorder' he claims exists within America. He focuses on a 'deep-rooted inter-gender imbalance' (which he calls 'The American Neurosis'), a condition he also believes he is uniquely qualified to painlessly and permanently expunge from the collective American psyche.
Article: “Is America Sexually Repressed?”
Introducing..."Letter To America"
'The new psychological appraisal of America'
~ by Bill Howard ~
(This article may be reproduced in whole or in part, strictly provided that the text is not altered in any way.)
Ask any impartial foreign observer which of America's national symbols accurately characterise that country's lifestyle and, typically, a profusion of diverse images will leap to mind. skyscrapers, hamburgers, jazz, Hollywood, Las Vegas, rock & roll, baseball, Disneyland, Elvis, guns, shrinks, film stars, Playboy bunnies, cowboys, indians, gangsters, space exploration - and, many would say, an irrational obsession with sex - are some of the more obvious representations of 'Americana'. Opinions of America as a country expressed by objective outsiders typically range from enormous admiration to utter incredulity, but one thing is indisputable; it is impossible, for any number of reasons, to ignore the world's only super-power. Viewed from afar, America is, in so many ways, 'different' to the rest of the planet.
In what may well prove to be the most significant and historic thesis since Freud's psychoanalytical theory, Bill, now a retired, middle-aged sales and marketing executive from London, sets out in undramatic, logical but utterly convincing fashion his extraordinary claim that the indigenous population of North America - regardless of socio-economic, religious, ethnic and racial origins of the individual American - are commonly afflicted by a deeply rooted 'collective psychological disorder', a home-grown neurosis that dominates and influences every aspect of North American life. Manifesting itself in 'the destructive cycle of irreconcilable incompatibilities within interpersonal heterosexual relationships' the malaise has now permeated every corner and facet of the American lifestyle. Their 'collective emotional dysfunctionality' has apparently been poisoning relationships between men and women for well over 100 years! In short, Howard claims ALL Americans are being adversely and psychologically conditioned by deleterious cultural forces throughout their entire lives!
Howard's startling contention (the result of some 50 years' intense personal study of every aspect of American culture) is supported by a wealth of disturbing yet fascinating insights and compelling evidence to push even the most sceptical reader into giving serious consideration to his contention that America's glitzy aura of success, happiness and achievement through materialism is a synthetic veneer masking deeply entrenched fears and insecurities which are perpetuated by its psychosocial make-up.
"The American people" he claims "...are being continuously programmed from cradle to grave by a unique collective dysfunctionality (a 'psychoneurosis'), which is generated and subsequently maintained by a number of unique sociological factors. These are inherent social pressures, conditions and impulses which dominate and influence all aspects of American life and are consistently and relentlessly shaping American behaviour. The individuals so affected are unable to escape from them or even to openly acknowledge their extent and influence..."
In forthright, but utterly convincing manner, Howard explains why even Americans from widely differing cultural and sociological and ethnic backgrounds are similarly affected by the condition and how they become 'emotionally out of touch with themselves and each other', emphasising that "...Until radical measures are put into effect no American will escape its clutches as it is inextricably woven into the lifestyles and culture, the identity and psyche of the entire sociological fabric of America." Visible (to Howard, at least) in the consistent reliance on 'acting', he describes the condition as 'a collective form of denial' which affects all aspects of interpersonal communication and social activity within the USA. Taken as a whole, it confirms Americans as having a number of deeply-rooted psychological fears and conflicts of such severity as to bring into question the emotional health of the entire nation. With utter conviction he repeats: "There is no part of American culture that is not affected, directly or indirectly, by the neurosis. It has permeated their entire society. North Americans are, in effect, psychologically imprisoned inside a twisted mass of unacceptable sexual conflicts."
In advancing what he accepts may initially be regarded as an untenable proposition, Howard nevertheless insists that the mass of supporting evidence of inadequate social interaction he has accumulated over many years makes his case irrefutable. Whilst accepting his conclusions may be considered contentious, he nevertheless remains convinced he has discovered an incontestable truth - a truth that all America is silently hoping and praying for open expression and recognition! (Even US TV Talk Shows are, apparently, all part of the collective 'cry for help'.)
_Howard's stated aims are twofold. His first and overriding concern is to administer his therapy programme, designed to break the evil circle of conflict and fear that bedevils American relationships, directly to the American people. "Relationships are one of the most important parts of human life" he says. "My therapy programme will create a climate condusive to the emotional and 'psychological re-alignment' of their responses and interpersonal behavioural patterns of heterosexual partners. The resulting reintegration of their individual personalities will enable them to start to function and interact freely, in a normal, sensitive, healthy and relaxed environment, devoid of the hostility, insecurity and fear which currently plagues them."
Howard’s secondary aim is stem the importation of 'The American Nightmare' into Britain, where he has already noticed early but definite signs of the emergence of a similar condition as a result of the indoctrination of British film and television aaudiences consistently and indiscriminately being subjected to a tidal wave of unchallenged US-produced audio-visual presentations. He is convinced that America is unconsciously 'conditioning' audiences in other countries through the unfettered worldwide transmission of its psychosexual fixations and manifestations, now incorporated into the vast majority of US film, TV, and drama productions.
We believe this remarkable book will not only impact favourably upon the American people but also help the rest of the world better understand them. An incisive concept which reveals the true dimensions, the human reality of what has happened there, the author presents his evidence with honesty, frankness and obvious passion which he hopes will enable readers to accept the validity of his thesis.
|
