J. R. L. Anderson facts for kids

Quick facts for kids J. R. L. Anderson
Born	John Richard Lane Anderson 17 June 1911 British Guiana
Died	21 August 1981(1981-08-21) (aged 70) Wantage, Oxfordshire, England
Occupation	Journalist, author
Nationality	British
Notable works	Vinland Voyage (1967) The Ulysses Factor (1970) High Mountains and Cold Seas (1980) Peter Blair and Piet Deventer mysteries

John Richard Lane Anderson (born June 17, 1911 – died August 21, 1981) was a British writer, journalist, and sailor. He wrote many books, especially about real-life sea adventures. He also created popular mystery stories.

Anderson worked for The Guardian newspaper for most of his career. He became very interested in writing books in the 1960s. He even reported on famous sailor Francis Chichester's trips. In 1966, Anderson led a team that sailed from England to North America. They wanted to follow the path of Leif Erikson, a Viking explorer. He wrote a book about this exciting journey.

Besides adventure stories, he wrote books for children and mystery novels. His mystery series, featuring detectives Peter Blair and Piet Deventer, are very well-known.

Early Life and Education

John Anderson was born in Georgetown, which was then called British Guiana. This was on June 17, 1911. His father worked for the government.

John went to school in England. He left school when he was 17. After that, he worked at a bookshop. He even got this job because the owner liked some poems John had written. He tried different jobs and studied at the University of London for a year.

Journalism Career

Anderson's first job in journalism was at the Hornsey Journal. Later, he worked for the News Chronicle. He even tried to start a soap factory in Trinidad, but it didn't work out. So, he returned to Britain and worked for a textile industry magazine.

He joined the Indian Army for a while. He taught soldiers how to use guns. To do this, he learned Urdu in just three months! He wrote a special book in Urdu to explain trigonometry (a type of math) to the gunners. He compared math relationships to family relationships.

In 1944, he left the Indian Army. He then joined The Guardian newspaper. He became a reporter during the later part of World War II. He even reported from Eisenhower's headquarters.

After the war, he continued to work for The Guardian. He became a reporter covering labor issues. He also became an assistant editor and wrote important articles for the newspaper.

Sailing Adventures and Reporting

John Anderson loved sailing. He reported on the voyages of the famous sailor Francis Chichester. In 1962, Anderson helped edit Chichester's book, Atlantic Adventure.

In 1966, Anderson was the yachting editor for The Guardian. He led a team on an amazing sailing trip. They sailed a boat from England to Martha's Vineyard in North America. They went through Iceland and Greenland. Their goal was to recreate the journey of the Viking explorer Leif Erikson. In 1967, Anderson wrote a book about this trip called Vinland Voyage.

Writing Journey

John Anderson published a book of poems called The Lost Traveller in 1931. After that, he didn't publish another book by himself until Vinland Voyage in 1967. But once he started, he wrote many books!

He wrote different kinds of books. These included fiction (made-up stories), history, biographies (stories about real people's lives), and books about places. He also wrote books for children.

Non-Fiction Books

His non-fiction books covered many topics.

• East of Suez (1969) was a history of British Petroleum.
• The Ulysses Factor (1970) explored why people like to explore.
• The Upper Thames (1970) was about the River Thames.
• The Oldest Road (1975) was about The Ridgeway, an ancient path.

Biographies

Anderson also wrote biographies about interesting people.

• The Road from Wigan Pier (1973) was about a union leader named Les Cannon.
• He wrote a memoir about the writer C. K. Ogden (1977).
• High Mountains and Cold Seas (1980) was about the mountaineer and sailor H. W. Tilman.

Mystery Novels

Anderson is very well known for his mystery and crime novels. His main characters were detectives Peter Blair and Piet Deventer. Many of these books were published by Victor Gollancz.

Later Life and Legacy

John Anderson passed away in Wantage, Oxfordshire, on August 21, 1981. His funeral was held at St Peter's Church.

His last novel, Late Delivery, was published after he died in 1982. He dedicated this book to a doctor named Ian Lister Cheese. In the book, Anderson asked readers to imagine the characters' accents. He chose to write in standard English instead of trying to show accents in writing.

Another book was published after his death in 2015. It was called Leeches and Breeches. This book was the memories of a country doctor named Frederick Vaughan Squires. John Anderson had helped edit this book.

Selected Publications

Here are some of the books John Anderson wrote or edited:

Non-fiction

• Vinland Voyage. London, 1967.
• The Ulysses Factor. The exploring instinct in man. London, 1970.
• The Upper Thames. London, 1970.
• The Oldest Road. An exploration of the Ridgeway. London, 1975.
• High Mountains and Cold Seas: A biography of H. W. Tilman. London, 1980.

Edited Non-fiction

• Chichester, Francis. Atlantic Adventure. London, 1962.

Peter Blair Mysteries

First UK edition (1978) of Death in the Greenhouse

• Death on the Rocks (1973)
• Death in the Thames (1974)
• Death in the North Sea (1975)
• Death in the Desert (1976)
• Death in the Caribbean (1977)
• Death in the City (1977)
• Death in the Greenhouse (1978)
• Death in a High Latitude (1981)

Piet Deventer Investigations

• A Sprig of Sea Lavender (1978)
• Festival (1979)
• Late Delivery (1982)

Children's Books

• Voyage of the 'Griffin' - as told in "Jackanory" by John Anderson. London, 1968.
• The Discovery of America. Harmondsworth, 1973.
• The Vikings. Harmondsworth, 1974.
• Discovering History. London, 1975.