Photo: Francesco Da Vinci/Getty Images (c.1992)
Sample of authors
Gardner, John (f. 1926)
John Edmund Gardner was a British novelist. He was born in the village of Seaton Delaval in Northumberland as the son of a clergyman. He briefly attended Cottham’s Preparatory School in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1931, and after the family had moved to Wantage in Berkshire in 1933, King Alfred’s School 1934–1943. He joined the Home Guard at the start of the Second World War and in 1943 the Royal Marin...
Literary figures
Simon Templar
Gender: Male
Little is known about his background, but already when he was only 19 years old, Englishman Simon Templar started be called The Saint probably on account of his initials. He is an adventurer and thief who is described as a modern Robin Hood (which in some respects is debatable) but he also features as a detective and, for example, combats organised crime in several of Leslie Charteris’ many s...