John Christopher emails
- At May 07, 2012
- By Niel
- In Writers
0
A couple of weeks ago I posted about the passing of children’s author Sam Youd, AKA John Christopher. I’d emailed Sam back in 2002, we’d chatted for a while and he had agreed to sign two of his books for me. You can read the original blog post here.
I’d thought our emails had been lost forever, but just after I published the blog post Sam’s daughter, Rose got in touch. She’d searched through her father’s computer and found our correspondence there, filed away for a decade. Rose forwarded the emails to me and has agreed for me to publish them here, for which I am very grateful.
Its a fascinating insight into the later years of a mature and successful writer. Even with a list of best selling novels under various pseudonyms his frustrations at certain aspects of his career are evident. I started by asking him why so many of his books were now out of print.
Read More»Sam Youd AKA John Christopher (16 April 1922 – 3 February 2012)
- At April 22, 2012
- By Niel
- In Writers
- 0
I have only just heard of the death of author, Sam Youd, known to most as John Christopher. He passed away on February 3rd.
When I was a brand new teenager John Christopher’s books were the hot ticket in the school library. His mix of future dystopia, science fiction and boys own adventure made his books required reading. He’s best known for his Tripods Trilogy, which was made into an ambitious but incomplete BBC sci-fi series. But he produced a great number of books on a wide range of subjects, including the Lotus Caves, about two young boys mischievous adventures on the moon, and the Prince in Waiting Trilogy (also know as The Sword of the Spirits Trilogy), a brilliant mix of post-apocalyptic sci-fi and Arthurian Medieval sword play. This trilogy is less well known, but is as least as good as his Tripod books. And those covers! Yes, they’re very 70’s, but they’re so evocative! They just begged to be read.
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