Balint Stephen Biro (

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population o ...

, October 6, 1921 – July 4, 2014) was a children's author, artist and illustrator. He received his education in

and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. His studio was located in

Amersham Amersham ( ) is a market town and civil parish within the unitary authority of Buckinghamshire, England, in the Chiltern Hills, northwest of central London, from Aylesbury and from High Wycombe. Amersham is part of the London commuter be ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-e ...

Writing

From an interview in the early 1970s:

"My writing is mainly concerned with my vintage car "Gumdrop." It was four years ago that my publishers suggested that it was about time that I wrote a book for children and not merely illustrate one; and I decided on Gumdrop as the main character.

"I write so as to give my alter-ego a good chance for drawing pictures, though I find that the story I invent tends to run away with itself, leaving me, the illustrator, behind! Each story tends to be based on personal experience and, equally, each tends to grow out of that into the imagination. Each book seems to take a few months to gestate, and then I write it in one long day (or night)."

Illustration

In the 1950s and 1960s Biro illustrated many book covers for famous authors such as Nigel Tranter and

Nevil Shute Nevil Shute Norway (17 January 189912 January 1960) was an English novelist and aeronautical engineer who spent his later years in Australia. He used his full name in his engineering career and Nevil Shute as his pen name, in order to protect ...

('' Requiem for a Wren'', ''

Round the Bend ''Round the Bend!'' is a satirical British children's television series, which ran on Children's ITV for three series from January 6, 1989, to May 7, 1991. The programme was produced by Hat Trick Productions for Yorkshire Television. After its f ...

'', '' The Far Country'' and ''

Beyond the Black Stump ''Beyond the Black Stump'' is a novel by British author Nevil Shute. It was first published in the UK by William Heinemann Ltd, in 1956. Plot summary The story concerns a young American geologist, Stanton Laird, working in the Australian outb ...

''). For C.S. Forester, publishing with Michael Joseph, Biro made cover illustrations of several first editions: ''

Mr. Midshipman Hornblower ''Mr. Midshipman Hornblower'' is a 1950 Horatio Hornblower novel written by C. S. Forester. Although it may be considered as the first episode in the Hornblower saga, it was written as a prequel; the first Hornblower novel, ''The Happy Return'' ...

'', ''

Lieutenant Hornblower ''Lieutenant Hornblower'' (published 1952) is a Horatio Hornblower novel written by C. S. Forester. It is the second book in the series chronologically, but the seventh by order of publication. The book is unique in the series in being told not ...

'', '' Hornblower and the Atropos'', '' Hornblower in the West Indies'' and ''Randall and the River of Time''. In 1965 for Hamish Hamilton he illustrated the first edition of ''Angler's Moon'' by Leo Walmsley. He also illustrated covers for ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves ...

''.

Gumdrop

'' Gumdrop'' is the name of an Austin Clifton Heavy Twelve-Four of 1926, the title character of a series of books authored by Val Biro, who owned an example. The stories revolve around the car and his owner, initially the younger Bill McArran, but for most of the series, the more senior Mr Oldcastle (later joined by a dog, Horace). The plots often involve the search for replacement parts for ''Gumdrop''. Biro wrote the stories from the late 1960s to the 1980s. The main series of books, all fully illustrated in colour by Biro, ran to at least seventeen titles, with a further twelve (at least) "Gumdrop Little Books" also published in the 1980s. Whilst Gumdrop's adventures are fictional, the car is not. Biro and Gumdrop were frequent visitors to car shows and other events in Sussex and surrounding area. Biro was seen driving Gumdrop in the television documentary ''100 Year Old Drivers'', broadcast on ITV on 13 August 2014, shortly after Biro's death.

Other works

*''Yellow Boots''

References

Other sources * Commire, Anne, 1971: ''Something About the Author'', Volume 1. Gale Research

External links

''Gumdrop: The Adventures of a Vintage Car''
(official) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Biro, Val English illustrators English male writers 1921 births 2014 deaths Hungarian emigrants to the United Kingdom