Ronald Walter Ellis (born 12 September 1941)
has been, among other occupations, a
crime novelist
Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...
, broadcaster, and journalist.
In 1992, ''
The Sun'' described him as the "man with the most jobs in Britain".
Background
Born in
Southport,
England, he studied library science at
Liverpool Polytechnic
, mottoeng = Fortune favours the bold
, established = 1823 – Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts1992 – Liverpool John Moores University
, type = Public
, endowment =
, coor ...
.
In 1966,
he became one of the country's first mobile D.J.s.
In 1976, he was appointed Northern Promotion Manager for
WEA
The Wea were a Miami-Illinois-speaking Native American tribe originally located in western Indiana. Historically, they were described as either being closely related to the Miami Tribe or a sub-tribe of Miami.
Today, the descendants of the ...
(
Warner Bros. Records,
Elektra Records
Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1 ...
and
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
).
He recorded a hit song, a punk anthem, "Boys on the Dole", which charted in the top 10 on the New Wave charts in 1979.
In 1984, American biographer
Albert Goldman hired him as
British researcher for his book ''The Lives of John Lennon''.
Ellis also broadcast football reports for
BBC Radio Merseyside
BBC Radio Merseyside is the BBC's local radio station serving Merseyside.
It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds, from studios on Hanover Street in Liverpool.
According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of 203,000 ...
.
Ellis has written two books of self-published poems, one of which won the national Sefton Poetry Award in 1992,
and a comedy book, ''Journal of a Coffin Dodger'',
which was shortlisted for the Best British Audio Comedy Book in 2004.
Ellis has written 10 crime novels.
The Johnny Ace series, published by
Headline and
Allison & Busby, features a Liverpool private investigator/radio presenter called Johnny Ace, and The DCI Glass series, three police procedurals. He also runs his own publishing company, Nirvana Books,
featuring works by pop music broadcaster
Spencer Leigh, local historian Joan A. Rimmer, and crime writers
Kate Ellis and
Eileen Dewhurst.
Bibliography
;The Johnny Ace crime novels
*''Ears of the City''
*''Mean Streets''
*''Framed''
*''The Singing Dead''
*''Grave Mistake''
*''Single Shot''
*''City of Vultures''
;The DCI Glass crime novels
*''Murder First Glass''
*''Snort of Kings''
*''Murder on the Internet Nirvana'' (under the title ''Playground Ppets'')
;Humour
*''Journal of a Coffin Dodger''
;Social History
*''Southport Faces''
;Poems
*''Diary of a Discothèque''
*''The Last of the Lake Poets''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Ron
English writers
English broadcasters
1941 births
Living people