The Underground Man

Mick Jackson

The Fifth Duke of Portland was known as 'The Underground Man'. This fictionalized story covers the last six months of his life and is told through his notebooks and by those that knew him. The Duke built a series of tunnels beneath his home and a set of dumb waiters to carry him around.

Mick Jackson was born in Great Harwood, Lancashire in 1960. Despite leaving school with no qualifications, the praise and encouragement of one English teacher during his school years is seen by Mick as a turning point in his life. After a series of interesting jobs, including touring in bands called the Screaming Abdabs and The Dinner Ladies, Mick started writing short stories whilst a Care Assistant in Cambridge. He got a place on the Creative Writing Course at East Anglia and is indebted to Rose Tremain who helped and advised him about publishers and agents. Mick has lived in Brighton since 1995 and The Three Moles Inn, Selham, West Sussex is one of his favourite pubs.