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  • It is 117 years today since Leslie Charteris was born.

    Leslie Charteris was born in colonial Singapore as Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin. His father, Suat Chuan Yin, was a wealthy physician and company manager who claimed he was related to an ancient Chinese imperial family. Charteris' mother, Lydia Florence Bowyer, was English. Young Leslie was educated at home and on the many journeys he made with his parents; he claimed to have toured the world three...

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  • It is 60 years today since Ferdinand von Schirach was born.

    Ferdinand von Schirach is a German lawyer and author born in Munich to a wealthy Protestant family. He grew up in Munich and Trossingen. When he was ten years old, he was enrolled at the St. Blasien Catholic boarding school where he passed his baccalaureate in 1984. Von Schirach later reported that these formative years had made it hard for him to believe in God.
    Von Schirach followed the...

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Sample of Authors

Portrait of Peter Spiegelman

Spiegelman, Peter
1958 -

The American crime writer Peter Spiegelman was born in New York. He grew up in Forest Hills, Queens, and has lived there...

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Portrait of Jean-Patrick Manchette

Manchette, Jean-Patrick
1942 - 1995

Jean-Patrick Manchette was a French author credited for having revolutionised noir fiction in France. He was born in...

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Portrait image of Dorothy Uhnak

Uhnak, Dorothy
1930 - 2006

Dorothy Uhnak was an American detective and creator of police procedural fiction. She was born Dorothy Goldstein in the...

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Portrait of James Lee Burke

Burke, James Lee
1936 -

James Lee Burke is an American author of Irish descent born in Houston, Texas, and brought up on the Texas-Louisiana Gulf...

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