Roderick William Cameron (1913 – 18 September 1985) was an American travel writer. He wrote a number of travel books and also contributed to ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...

'' and ''

Horizon The horizon is the apparent line that separates the surface of a celestial body from its sky when viewed from the perspective of an observer on or near the surface of the relevant body. This line divides all viewing directions based on whether i ...

'' magazines. For several years he was contributing editor of '' L'Oeil''.

Early life

Cameron was born in 1913, the son of Roderick M. Cameron, who had married an Australian, Enid Lindemann, who by a later marriage to

Valentine Browne, 6th Earl of Kenmare Valentine Edward Charles Browne, 6th Earl of Kenmare (29 May 1891 – 20 September 1943), styled Viscount Castlerosse from 1905 to 1941, was the Earl of Kenmare and the son of Valentine Browne, 5th Earl of Kenmare. Lord Castlerosse, an Anglo-Iris ...

became Countess of Kenmare in Ireland. His grandfather was

Roderick Cameron Sir Roderick William Cameron (July 25, 1825 – October 19, 1900) was a Canadian and American businessman noted for co-founding the ''R. W. Cameron and Company'' shipping line in New York City, as well as for his role as an official representativ ...

, shipping magnate who founded R. W. Cameron & Company in New York. He was educated at private schools in England and Switzerland, and later at the

Courtauld Institute of Art The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. It is among the most prestigious specialist coll ...

.Fabulous Dead People, Rory Cameron.
Christopher Petkanas, nytimes.com 9 June 2010. Retrieved 9 August 2017.

Career

He worked for the

Office of Strategic Services The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the intelligence agency of the United States during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines for all branc ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and spent much time in London. He had no need to work, having inherited wealth, but produced a number of travel books and works of history. He also contributed to ''Life'' and ''Horizon'' magazines and for several years was contributing editor of ''L'Oeil''. Apart from writing, his principal interest was interior design.

Personal life

Cameron was bisexual and had relationships with men and women. He never married and had no children.

Death

Cameron died of

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

-related illnesses at his home in Menerbes, France, on 18 September 1985. He was survived by a half-brother, Lord Waterpark of London, and a half-sister, Patricia O'Neill of Cape Province, South Africa.Roderick W. Cameron Dies; Wrote on History and Travel.
'' The New York Times'', 26 September 1985. Retrieved 9 August 2017.

Selected publications

* ''My travel's history''.

Hamish Hamilton Hamish Hamilton Limited was a British book publishing house, founded in 1931 eponymously by the half-Scot half-American Jamie Hamilton (''Hamish'' is the vocative form of the Gaelic Seumas eaning James ''James'' the English form – which was ...

, London, 1950. * ''Equator farm: An account of the author's visits to Kenya, Uganda and Zanzibar''. William Heinemann, London, 1955. * ''Shadows from India. An architectural album &c''.

William Heinemann William Henry Heinemann (18 May 1863 – 5 October 1920) was an English publisher of Jewish descent and the founder of the Heinemann publishing house in London. Early life On 18 May 1863, Heinemann was born in Surbiton, Surrey, England. Heine ...

, London, 1958. * ''Time of the mango flowers''. Heinemann, London, 1958. * ''Shells''.

Weidenfeld & Nicolson Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd (established 1949), often shortened to W&N or Weidenfeld, is a British publisher of fiction and reference books. It has been a division of the French-owned Orion Publishing Group since 1991. History George Weidenfeld a ...

, London, 1961. * ''The golden haze: With Captain Cook in the South Pacific''. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1964. * ''Viceroyalties of the west: The Spanish Empire in Latin America.'' Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1968. * ''Australia: History and horizons''. Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1971. * ''The golden Riviera''. Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1975.

References

External links

* http://ourhousejds.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/roderick-rory-cameron.html American travel writers American magazine editors AIDS-related deaths in France Bisexual male writers American interior designers 1913 births 1985 deaths 20th-century American LGBT people American bisexual writers {{US-nonfiction-writer-stub