Jerry, Terry and The Specials

Disbelief. Terry Hall—dead.

Pancreatic cancer has taken the iconic Specials frontman far too soon - a man who meant so much to millions, whose deadpan delivery voiced a generation’s dissatisfaction.

Though a private man, in his passing, buried truths resurface: a boyhood stolen by abuse, a trauma laid bare in haunting lyrics – even press interviews. In Jerry, Terry and The Specials, Paolo Hewitt embarks on a journey that begins with Terry’s death—but soon turns inward.

Revisiting his childhood in care homes, years of silence, and battles with self-doubt as a writer at NME and Melody Maker, Paolo sets out to understand not only Terry, but himself.

This is a book about music, an era-defining band and movement —but also about trauma, silence, survival, and the search for identity. It’s about how we carry what wounds us. And how, sometimes, the bravest art is the kind that tells the truth, in plain sight, and still goes unheard.24 pages.