Journalist Joe Riley celebrates his eventful 26 years at the heart of Liverpool culture in a new book.

Life of Riley contains some of the most memorable moments from his career as arts editor for the Liverpool Echo.

It features news stories capturing landmark moments in the city’s history along with reviews, features and interviews.

The book came about after the publishers approached Joe with the idea.

He explained: “Hedland contacted me about putting together a collection of some of my pieces from the Echo and I thought it would be a nice idea.

“The Echo very kindly handed over the copyright of the articles and then it was just a case of finding the relevant cuttings.”

The book is divided into different sections such as ‘music’, ‘film’ and ‘crime’ and the articles are arranged in a purposely random manner.

Joe said: “It makes it a nice book to dip in and out of. You can open it up at any page and just read it for a bit.

To promote the book, Joe held a signing event at a local bookstore.

He explained: “It wasn’t exactly Beckham-mania but there was quite a bit of interest and I enjoyed the day.”

Joe started his career as a reporter on the Crosby Herald, before moving to the Liverpool Daily Post.

He then switched to the Liverpool Echo and became Arts Editor in 1974.

Whilst he enjoys his work, he admits there might not be too many tears shed when he retires.

He said: “The two jobs people are most interested in here are Arts Editor and Sports Editor. I’m sure when I leave, people will be queueing around the block to replace me!”

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