A FORMER Gazette & Herald columnist has published the columns she wrote for the newspaper in a new book.

June Emerson, who lives in Kirkbymoorside, was a columnist with the paper between 1998 and 2012. Her columns chronicled life in Ryedale, as well as her own interests and changing philosophies.

Ms Emerson was first engaged by then-editor Bob Macmillan to contribute to a column called Ryeview. She was one of four writers who penned columns on a rotating basis about local matters.

"It was meant to be about Ryedale," Ms Emerson said, "but I got away with writing about all sorts."

The columns also capture her changing political views, particularly on environmental issues. In the book's prologue, she comments that her ex-husband refers to it as her period of "radicalisation" from reading the Telegraph to going on demos about coal-fired power stations.

"Reading them through again I can see that he’s right," she writes. "References to the Spectator fade quickly as my concerns about 'green' matters take priority."

The pieces include a battle with a particularly negative sign in a Helmsley car park, on which Ms Emerson said: "the word 'No' appeared nine times in the instructions for visitors. I was standing behind a young couple who read it and decided to go elsewhere". They also feature a time where she lived on £1 a day for food and drink to raise awareness of poverty. "That taught us a lot," she said.

In a dedication on the book's cover, James Partridge of the charity Changing Faces said the articles are "little gems that will brighten lives for many years to come".

Matthew Engel of the Financial Times adds that the columns "tell us much about deepest Yorkshire and even more about life, the universe and everything."

The 153 pieces contained within the book are about 500 words each, which Ms Emerson says makes it easy to read.

She added: "When the deadline was approaching, I always used to put 'here it comes' on an email to the editor. So that became the book's title."

In the prologue she writes: "I hope these bits of recent history bring back interesting memories to the reader."