John Rowe Townsend (19 May 1922 – 24 March 2014) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

children's writer and

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

scholar. His best-known children's novel is ''The Intruder'', which won a 1971

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...

. His best-known academic work is a reference series, ''Written for Children: An Outline of English Children's Literature'' (1965), the definitive work of its time on the subject. It was greatly expanded for the first revised edition as ''Written for Children: An Outline of English-language Children's Literature'' (1974) and updated for its 2nd to 4th revised editions in 1983, 1987, and 1990 – the last, "A survey of imaginative writing, including poetry and picture books, accompanied by a bibliography of works on children's literature and illustrations from many of the classics of children's literature through 1989." ().

Biography

Townsend was born in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

and educated at

Leeds Grammar School Leeds Grammar School was an independent school founded 1552 in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Originally a male-only school, in August 2005 it merged with Leeds Girls' High School to form The Grammar School at Leeds. The two schools physically ...

and

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mon ...

. His popular works include ''Gumble's Yard'', his

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

published in 1961; ''Widdershins Crescent'' (1965); and '' The Intruder'' (1969), which won the 1971

for Best Juvenile Mystery from the

Mystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is an organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday. It presents the Edgar Award ...

. In Britain, ''The Intruder'' was

adapted In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the po ...

as a children's TV series starring

Milton Johns John Robert Milton (born 13 March 1938), known professionally as Milton Johns, is an English character actor who has worked almost continuously throughout his career. A versatile talent, he specialises in sinister or obsequious roles and has f ...

as the stranger. He was for some time editor of ''

The Guardian ''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 ...

s weekly international edition, and also served as the paper's children's books editor. Also in Britain, ''Noah's Castle'' was filmed by

Southern Television Southern Television was the ITV broadcasting licence holder for the South and South-East of England from 30 August 1958 to 31 December 1981. The company was launched as 'Southern Television Limited' and the title 'Southern Television' was con ...

, narrated by character Barry Mortimer (

Simon Gipps-Kent Simon Gipps-Kent (born Simon Trevor Kent; 25 October 1958 – 16 September 1987) was a prolificAlistair D. McGown & Mark J. Dochert''The Hill and Beyond: Children's Television Drama – An Encyclopedia'' British Film Institute, 2003, p. 97. 20 ...

), and transmitted in seven 25-minute episodes in 1980. He has had a relationship with

Jill Paton Walsh Gillian Honorine Mary Herbert, Baroness Hemingford, (née Bliss; 29 April 1937 – 18 October 2020), known professionally as Jill Paton Walsh, was an English novelist and children's writer. She may be known best for her Booker Prize-nominated n ...

since the early 1970s, but they only got married after the death of her first husband in 2004.

Books

* ''Gumble's Yard'' (1961) * ''Hell's Edge'' (1963) * ''Widdershins Crescent'' (1965) * ''Written for Children: An Outline of English Children's Literature'' (1965) * ''The Hallersage Sound'' (1966) * ''Pirate's Island'' (1968) * '' The Intruder'' (1969) * ''Trouble in the Jungle'' (1969) * ''Goodbye to Gumble's Yard'' (1970) * ''A Sense of Story'' (1971); reissued as ''A Sounding of Storytellers'' (1979) * ''The Summer People'' (1972) * ''Wish for Wings'' (1972) * ''Good-night, Prof, Love'' (1973) * ''Written for Children: An Outline of English-language Children's Literature'' (1974) – first revised edition of the 1965 ''Outline'' * ''Forest of the Night'' (1974) * ''Noah's Castle'' (1975) * ''Top of the World'' (1976) * ''The Xanadu Manuscript'' (1977) (US title: ''The Visitors'') * ''Runaways'' (1979) * ''A Sounding of Storytellers'' (1979) * ''King Creature, Come'' (1980) (US title: ''The Creatures'') * ''The Fortunate Isles'' (1981); reissued as ''The Golden Journey'' (1989) * ''The Islanders'' (1981) * ''A Foreign Affair'' (1982) (US title: ''Kate and the Revolution'') * ''Clever Dick: The Diary of a Dreadful Child'' (1982) * ''Dan Alone'' (1983) * ''Cloudy-Bright'' (1984); reissued as ''Sam and Jenny'' (1992) * ''Fame and Fortune'' (1984) * ''Gone to the Dogs'' (1984) * ''Tom Tiddler's Ground'' (1985); reissued as ''The Hidden Treasure'' (1988) * ''The Persuading Stick'' (1986) * ''Downstream'' (1987) * ''Rob's Place'' (1987) * ''Cranford Revisited'' (1989) * ''Cheer and Groan'' (1989) * ''The Invaders'' (1992) – sequel to ''The Islanders''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Townsend, John Rowe 1922 births 2014 deaths Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge British children's writers Children's literature criticism Edgar Award winners People educated at Leeds Grammar School Writers from Leeds The Guardian journalists Place of death missing