Graham Lord (16 February 1943 – 13 June 2015) was a British biographer and novelist. His biographies include those of

Jeffrey Bernard Jeffrey Joseph Bernard (; 27 May 1932 – 4 September 1997) was an English journalist, best known for his weekly column "Low Life" in ''The Spectator'' magazine, and also notorious for a feckless and chaotic career and life of alcohol abus ...

James Herriot James Alfred Wight (3 October 1916 – 23 February 1995), better known by his pen name James Herriot, was a British veterinary surgeon and author. Born in Sunderland, Wight graduated from Glasgow Veterinary College in 1939, returning to Engl ...

Dick Francis Richard Stanley Francis (31 October 1920 – 14 February 2010) was a British steeplechase jockey and crime writer whose novels centre on horse racing in England. After wartime service in the RAF, Francis became a full-time jump-jockey, wi ...

, Arthur Lowe,

David Niven James David Graham Niven (; 1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983) was a British actor, soldier, memoirist, and novelist. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Major Pollock in ''Separate Tables'' (1958). Niven's other roles ...

John Mortimer Sir John Clifford Mortimer (21 April 1923 – 16 January 2009) was a British barrister, dramatist, screenwriter and author. He is best known for novels about a barrister named Horace Rumpole. Early life Mortimer was born in Hampstead, London, ...

and

Joan Collins Dame Joan Henrietta Collins (born 23 May 1933) is an English actress, author and columnist. Collins is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, a People's Choice Award, two Soap Opera Digest Awards and a Primetime ...

. He was the

literary editor A literary editor is an editor in a newspaper, magazine or similar publication who deals with aspects concerning literature and books, especially reviews.

of the ''

Sunday Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

'' for 23 years, from 1969 to 1992.

Life

Lord was born in

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kn ...

(now

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

), raised in

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

, educated at

Falcon College Falcon College (or simply Falcon) is an independent boarding school for boys and girls aged 12–18 in the southern Matabeleland region of Zimbabwe. It was founded in 1954 near Essexvale, Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (now Esigodini, Zim ...

and took an honours degree in History at

Churchill College, Cambridge Churchill College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. It has a primary focus on science, engineering and technology, but still retains a strong interest in the arts and humanities. In 1958, a trust was establish ...

, where he edited the university newspaper '' Varsity''. After working briefly for the ''

Cambridge Evening News The ''Cambridge News'' (formerly the ''Cambridge Evening News'') is a British daily newspaper. Published each weekday and on Saturdays, it is distributed from its Waterbeach base. In the period December 2010 – June 2011 it had an average dai ...

'', in 1965 he joined the ''

'' in London as a reporter and feature writer, where he spent 23 years as Literary Editor, wrote a weekly column about books and interviewed almost every major English language author of the 1960s to 1990s, including

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

, Dame

Muriel Spark Dame Muriel Sarah Spark (née Camberg; 1 February 1918 – 13 April 2006). was a Scottish novelist, short story writer, poet and essayist. Life Muriel Camberg was born in the Bruntsfield area of Edinburgh, the daughter of Bernard Camberg, an ...

and

Ruth Rendell Ruth Barbara Rendell, Baroness Rendell of Babergh, (; 17 February 1930 – 2 May 2015) was an English author of thrillers and psychological murder mysteries. Rendell is best known for creating Chief Inspector Wexford.The Oxford Companion ...

. From 1982 to 1988 he was vice-chairman of Newbury

Mencap The Royal Mencap Society is a charity based in the United Kingdom that works with people with a learning disability. Its Charity Number is 222377. History Established by Judy Fryd in 1946 as The National Association of Parents of Backwards Chi ...

, from 1985-87 he represented the Lambourn Valley as a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

councillor on Newbury District Council, and in 1987 he launched the £20,000 ''

'' Book of the Year Award. After leaving the ''Sunday Express'' in 1992 to become a full-time author, he wrote regularly for ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'', ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' and the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...

''. From 1994 to 1996, he edited the short story magazine ''

Raconteur A humorist (American) or humourist (British spelling) is an intellectual who uses humor, or wit, in writing or public speaking, but is not an artist who seeks only to elicit laughs. Humorists are distinct from comedians, who are show business ...

''. He also published a memoir of the people he met during his forty years in Fleet Street, ''Lord's Ladies and Gentlemen: 100 Legends of the 20th Century'', which includes an unflattering profile of his former editor at the ''Sunday Express'', Sir John Junor. In addition, his other books include an autobiographical portrait of

and

, nine novels, and a collection of short stories, essays and journalism, ''Lord of the Files''. His books have been translated into French, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, German, Russian and Chinese. Graham Lord lived with his wife, Juliet, an artist, on

Nevis Nevis is a small island in the Caribbean Sea that forms part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies. Nevis and the neighbouring island of Saint Kitts constitute one country: the Federation of Saint Kitts and Ne ...

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

, and also in France.

Death

Lord died of liver cancer on 13 June 2015, at the age of 72.

Publications

Biographies

* ''Just The One: The Wives and Times of Jeffrey Bernard'', Sinclair-Stevenson, 1992 * ''James Herriot: The Life of a Country Vet'', Headline, 1997. * ''Dick Francis: A Racing Life'', Little, Brown & Co, 1999 * ''Arthur Lowe'', Orion, 2001 * ''Niv: The Authorised Biography of David Niven'', Orion, 2004 * ''John Mortimer: The Devil's Advocate - The Unauthorised Biography'', Orion, 2005 * ''Joan Collins: The Biography of an Icon'', Orion, 2007

Novels

* ''Marshmallow Pie'', Macmillan, 1970 * ''A Roof Under Your Feet'', Macdonald, 1973 * ''The Spider and the Fly'', Hamish Hamilton, 1974 * ''God and All His Angels'', Hamish Hamilton, 1976 * ''The Nostradamus Horoscope'', Hutchinson, 1981 * ''Time Out of Mind'', Hamish Hamilton, 1986 * ''A Party to Die For'', Little, Brown & Co, 1997 * ''Sorry - We're Going to Have to Let You Go'', Little, Brown & Co, 1999 * ''Under a Hammock Moon'', Fern Hill Books, 2012

Autobiography

* ''Ghosts of King Solomon's Mines'',

Sinclair-Stevenson Sinclair-Stevenson Ltd is a British publisher founded in 1989 by Christopher Sinclair-Stevenson. Christopher Sinclair-Stevenson became an editor at Hamish Hamilton in 1961. Thirteen years later in 1974 he became managing director, establishing ...

, 1991 * ''Lord's Ladies and Gentlemen: 100 Legends of the 20th Century'', Fern Hill Books, 2012

Anthology

• ''Lord of the Files: Short Stories, Essays and Journalism'',

Fern Hill Books A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes except ...

, 2013 * ''A Splinter of Ice: Short Stories'',

Amazon Kindle Amazon Kindle is a series of e-readers designed and marketed by Amazon. Amazon Kindle devices enable users to browse, buy, download, and read e-books, newspapers, magazines and other digital media via wireless networking to the Kindle Store. ...

, 2013

References

External links

Summaries and reviews of his books
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lord, Graham 1943 births 2015 deaths Alumni of Falcon College Alumni of Churchill College, Cambridge British male journalists British literary editors Conservative Party (UK) councillors Councillors in Berkshire Deaths from liver cancer Daily Express people English biographers Place of death missing English male novelists 20th-century English novelists 20th-century biographers 20th-century English male writers English male non-fiction writers Male biographers