Christopher James Stone (born 16 June 1953), pen name C.J. Stone, is an English author, journalist and

freelance writer ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

. He is best known for his columns in ''

The Guardian Weekend ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' and '' The Big Issue''. In 1971, he moved to Cardiff where he attended

Cardiff University , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University , motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord , mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord , established = 1 ...

and studied

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

, however, he dropped out after two years without completing his course. In 1981, he resumed his academic studies at

Bristol Polytechnic The University of the West of England (also known as UWE Bristol) is a public research university, located in and around Bristol, England. The institution was know as the Bristol Polytechnic in 1970; it received university status in 1992 and ...

(now the University of the West of England) where he gained a 2:1 degree in Humanities. In 1984, he moved to Whitstable, Kent, and has been living there ever since.

Author

Stone first became established as a writer when a column, written by him and entitled: "Housing Benefit Hill", was published by ''The Guardian Weekend'' in September 1993.www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2000/jun/10/weekend7.weekend1
/ref>www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/feb/13/once-upon-a-life-jon-mcgregor
/ref> His editor at the time was

Deborah Orr Deborah Jane Orr (23 September 1962 – 19 October 2019) was a British journalist who worked for ''The Guardian'', ''The Independent'' and other publications. Early life and education Orr was born on 23 September 1962 to Winifred "Win" and John ...

. The column described life on council housing estates throughout Britain and was based around real people that he knew. The column continued for three years, until September 1996, and established him as a newspaper columnist. Having become known for his work in ''

'', he had his first book, ''Fierce Dancing'', accepted for publication in 1996 by Faber & Faber.www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/c-j-+stone/fierce+dancing/7207378/
– Waterstones: Fierce Dancing It was to define what the author became known for writing about: the counter culture of contemporary Britain and its protesters, hippies, punks, neo-pagans, ravers and New Age travellers.

Publications

Books

* ''Fierce Dancing Adventures in the Underground'' (1996) published by Faber & Faber. * ''Last of the Hippies'' (1999) published by Faber & Faber. * ''Housing Benefit Hill'' (2001) published by AK Press – a collection of stories that had previously appeared in his column. * ''The Trials of Arthur'' (2003) published by

Element Books HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News C ...

and co-written with Arthur Pendragon – telling the story of the life of the eco-warrior and self-proclaimed Druid king (co-author).

Articles

Stone has had regular columns in ''The Guardian Weekend'' and has contributed to '' The Independent'', '' The Observer'', ''

The London Review of Books The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published twice monthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews. History The ''London Review of ...

'', '' The Times Literary Supplement'', '' The Glasgow Herald'' newspapers, ''The Big Issue'',www.barefootintocyberspace.com/book/hypertext/
/ref> '' New Statesman'', ''

Prediction A prediction (Latin ''præ-'', "before," and ''dicere'', "to say"), or forecast, is a statement about a future event or data. They are often, but not always, based upon experience or knowledge. There is no universal agreement about the exact ...

'', ''

Kindred Spirit Kindred Spirit(s) may refer to: Arts * ''Kindred Spirits'' (film), a 1984 Australian film * ''Kindred Spirits'' (2019 film), a 2019 film by Lucky McKee * ''Kindred Spirits'' (painting), a painting by Asher Brown Durand, a member of the Hudson R ...

'', '' Mixmag'' and ''Saga'' magazines. He currently writes for the ''Whitstable Gazette''.

Radio and Television

Stone wrote columns for a BBC Radio 4 programme called '' the Afternoon Shift'', featuring Laurie Taylor who now runs ''

Thinking Allowed ''Thinking Allowed'' is a radio discussion programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Wednesday afternoons between 16:00 and 16:30 and repeated between 00:15 and 00:45 on Monday mornings. It focuses on the latest social science research and is hosted ...

''. He was also the writer for a BBC2 TV programme called ''Let's Face The Music and Dance'', which was aired on 15 June 1994, about the Criminal Justice and Public Order Bill.

References

other references. www.tvcabbage.net/2010/03/on-huge-anti-criminal-justice-bill.html
– involvement with the Criminal Justice Bill in 1994 {{DEFAULTSORT:Stone, C. J. 1953 births Living people People from Whitstable English writers