A FORMER teacher from West Heslerton, who is terminally ill, has released a single he hopes will raise money for his wife after he has gone.

Steve Ronson, 59, wrote and recorded the ballad “Only For Those That Truly Know’ under the stage name Ron Mozart for the wedding of an old friend - and was persuaded to release it by Chuck Hammer, who was a session guitarist for David Bowie and Lou Reed.

Steve said he and his wife

had been out in Saudi Arabia, where he was head teacher at a school, when he first became ill in 2016.

The couple returned to the UK and came to Yorkshire; Steve’s wife Joy is from Scarborough.

A couple of years later he felt a bit better so went to Ryedale School to teach history for an academic year.

But he has now had to stop work again, after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.

He had written the single for the wedding of his own former history teacher from where he grew up in Staffordshire - Frack Dacey.

Steve said the two had been friends since his schooldays.

He said: “When I became a teacher myself I based myself on him. He was an inspiration. The song was a wedding present.”

He recorded the song, playing every instrument himself apart from the violin and the drums - which were played by a Ryedale School pupil.

He said: “I played it to certain people; Chuck Hammer said it was too good to sit on the shelf, and it should be out there.

“With my illness I have good days and bad days. The chemo is nasty stuff. But what I really worry about is having no life insurance.”

He said he hopes the song might help his wife continue to live in their cottage after he’s gone.

“If this song was a success, wouldn’t that be wonderful?” he added.

The song can be bought from store.cdbaby.com/cd/ronmozart. It can also be heard on Youtube.