Christopher Stewart (born 27 March 1951) is a British author who was the original drummer and a founder member of

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Religion * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of humankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Bo ...

. When not writing, he runs a farm, where he lives, near Orgiva in Spain.

Background and musical career

Stewart was born in

Crawley Crawley () is a town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a populat ...

and grew up in

Horsham Horsham () is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

, Sussex. He attended The Abbey School, Ashurst Wood, then later became a classmate of Tony Banks and

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis. He left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career wit ...

at Charterhouse in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, and joined them in a school band called the Garden Wall. This was joined by classmates

Mike Rutherford Michael John Cloete Crawford Rutherford (born 2 October 1950) is an English guitarist, bassist and songwriter, best known as co-founder, lead guitarist and bassist of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis. He and keyboardist Tony Banks (musici ...

and

Anthony Phillips Anthony Edwin Phillips (born 23 December 1951) is an English musician and composer who gained prominence as the original lead guitarist of the rock band Genesis, from 1967 to 1970. He left in July 1970 and learned to play more instruments, bef ...

to form Anon, which was renamed Genesis in January 1967. Stewart appears on Genesis's first two singles, "The Silent Sun" / "That's Me" and "A Winter's Tale" / "One-Eyed Hound". Although several demos from Stewart's time with the band appear on the '' Genesis Archive 1967-75'' box set, he is not credited with playing on any of them (though one track features drumming that may have been done by Stewart). At the recommendation of

Jonathan King Jonathan King (born Kenneth George King; 6 December 1944) is an English singer, songwriter and record producer. He first came to prominence in 1965 when "Everyone's Gone to the Moon", a song that he wrote and sang while still an undergraduate, ...

, Stewart was – rather inelegantly – fired from the band in the summer of 1968 due to his poor technique and was replaced by John Silver.

Farmer and author

After travelling and working throughout Europe, Stewart settled and bought a farm named El Valero in the

Alpujarras The Alpujarra (, ) is a natural and historical region in Andalusia, Spain, on the south slopes of the Sierra Nevada and the adjacent valley. The average elevation is above sea level. It extends over two provinces, Granada and Almería; ...

region of

Andalucia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It i ...

, where he lives and works with his wife Ana Exton and daughter Chloë. He ran for the position of local councillor in the 27 May 2007 local elections in Órgiva representing the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

, where he received 201 votes (roughly 8 per cent). He is now known for his autobiographical books, ''Driving Over Lemons: An Optimist in Andalucia'' (1999, ) and the sequels, ''A Parrot In The Pepper Tree'' (2002, ) and ''The Almond Blossom Appreciation Society'' (2006, ), about his life farming in Spain. All three are also available as

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sch ...

s (''Lemons'' , ''Parrot'' , and ''Almond'' ), narrated by Stewart. In 2009, Stewart's publisher, ''

Sort of Books Sort of Books is an independent British publishing house started in 1999 by Mark Ellingham and Natania Jansz, founders of the Rough Guides travel series. The company publishes both original and classic fiction and non-fiction titles: "The sort of ...

'', announced plans to release his memoir focused on sailing, entitled ''Three Ways to Capsize a Boat: An Optimist Afloat''. This was fulfilled as . In 2014, Sort Of Books published Stewart's book of stories, ''Last Days of the Bus Club'' (4 June 2014, ), which focuses on his daughter's going to university, and his and Ana's subsequent life alone on the farm. Stewart has also contributed to two books in the

Rough Guides Rough Guides is a travel company that offers tailor-made trips planned and arranged by local travel experts based in destinations around the world. Originally established as a guidebook publisher in 1982, Rough Guides expanded into customized t ...

series: the ''Rough Guide to Andalucia'' and the ''Rough Guide to China''.

References

External links

Biography and news
*
Sort of Books
a small British publisher initially founded to help Stewart publish his debut book (se
About us

Chris Stewart's blog about thrifty-living in Spain
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Chris 1951 births Living people 20th-century British drummers 20th-century British farmers 21st-century English farmers 20th-century English male musicians 20th-century English memoirists 21st-century English memoirists British Book Award winners British male drummers English drummers English expatriates in Spain Genesis (band) members People educated at Charterhouse School People from Crawley ja:クリス・スチュワート