Page 21 - James Caan - The Real Deal

Chapter 2

Growing Up Fast

(1971–1977)

‘ Watching my father taught me two very important lessons:

firstly, that nothing is achieved without dedication and effort;
and secondly, that there is little point in hard work if you

can’t take the time to enjoy the rewards. ’

don’t know where we stayed that night – possibly with
I neighbours – but the council quickly gave us emergency shelter
and we were moved into temporary accommodation. I had never
understood why my father had saved his money, but we were now all
very thankful that he had. The next day we had clothes to wear and
bedding to sleep on, and within a month we also had a new house.
My father used his savings to buy – in cash, as far as I recall –
a detached house in Forest Gate, a suburb of north-east London.
In many ways it made no sense, as his business was centred around
the Brick Lane area: he was well known there and he had lots of
customers and suppliers there. On the other hand, the family was
still growing – my parents would soon have a fifth child, my
younger brother Nadeem – and we needed more space.

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