20 April 2023

By Göran R Buckhorn

Time to order your copy of Gavin Jamieson’s Water Gleaming Gold: The Story of Hugh ‘Jumbo’ Edwards – Oarsman, Olympian, Airman.

We all have our heroes. One of mine is Hugh Robert Arthur Edwards (1906-1972), who was known as ‘Jumbo’ Edwards. He was one of Great Britain’s most successful oarsmen and controversial coaches during the mid-1900s. Jumbo Edwards was a 1932 Olympic gold medallist (two gold medals on the same day!), British Empire Games and Henley Royal winner, Oxford Blue and Oxford winning coach. Edwards was also a renowned pilot in the Royal Air Force (RAF).

Gavin Jamieson, who is married to Melissa, granddaughter of Jumbo Edwards, has researched the extraordinary life of Edwards using the family archive, and among the papers, Jamieson found an unpublished memoir written by Edwards shortly before his death in 1972. In February 2020, Jamieson gave the HTBS readers a taste of his research by publishing a four-piece article about this exceptional man. And other articles on Edwards followed on HTBS.

Jamieson has written a biography of Jumbo Edwards, Water’s Gleaming Gold: The Story of Hugh ‘Jumbo’ Edwards – Oarsman, Olympian, Airman, which will be published in June this summer. I am happy to say that several of HTBS’s writers have helped and supported Gavin in his research.

Water’s Gleaming Gold has received positive blurbs from Dan Snow, historian, broadcaster and Oxford rowing Blue, who said “A true Olympic and rowing hero, and a story that is both fascinating and truly dramatic”.

Sir Matthew Pinsent: “We modern oarsmen and women are sometimes asked to row as if our lives depended on it. It is only Jumbo Edwards from the British Olympic rowing family who had to do that literally”.

Daniel James Brown, author of The Boys in the Boat, calls it “One hell of a story”.

I can only agree with Brown, Water’s Gleaming Gold is one hell of a story.

The publisher of the biography, Lapwing Publishing Services, is now taking pre-orders of the book. Order your copy of Water’s Gleaming Gold here.