A "glittering" school and university career led the author to qualify as a lawyer. It also left him shattered and empty inside and with a diagnosis aged 23 of a potentially lifelong disease. He quit the legal profession still only 27 and set about re-defining his life. After several years teaching English in Spain he returned to the UK to embark upon teaching the card game bridge. Funding was awarded to him to take a simplified version of bridge to schools all over England. His experiences in schools revealed the full extent of the dysfunction in the system and how damaging it can be for most children. Decades later he is now happy and healthy, working creatively as a writer, researcher and teacher, his own life finally back on track and determined to help others rediscover their own power to make positive, more informed choices for themselves and their family.