Russell Ash facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Russell Ash
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| Born | Russell Ash 18 June 1946 Surrey, England, United Kingdom |
| Died | 21 June 2010 (aged 64) Lewes, East Sussex |
| Occupation | Author |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | St Cuthbert's Society, Durham |
| Notable works | The Top 10 of Everything |
| Spouse | Caroline |
| Children | Three |
Russell Ash (born June 18, 1946 – died June 21, 2010) was a British author. He was famous for his book series Top 10 of Everything. He also wrote many other books. These included Great Wonders of the World and Incredible Comparisons. Russell Ash wrote reference books, art books, and funny books. He even wrote a series of books about funny real names. Some of these were Potty, Fartwell & Knob and Big Pants, Burpy and Bumface for kids. People sometimes called him 'the human Google'. This was because he knew so many interesting facts!
Contents
About Russell Ash
Russell Ash was born in Surrey, England. His family had a history of being skilled craftspeople. They were goldsmiths and silversmiths a long time ago. One of his ancestors, Claudius Ash, helped invent false teeth. Russell's father worked with books at the British Museum Library. He also served in the Royal Air Force during World War II.
The family later moved to Bedford. Russell went to primary school and Bedford Modern School there. He then studied anthropology and geography. He went to St Cuthbert's Society at Durham University. He started his career in publishing in 1967. He found pictures for Man, Myth & Magic. He also researched and wrote for Reader's Digest Books. Later, he worked for Newsweek Books. He helped with their Wonders of Man series.
In 1973, Russell Ash started his own publishing company. It was called Ash & Grant. He ran it with his friend Ian Grant for five years. He also worked as a director at Weidenfeld & Nicolson from 1980 to 1983. There, he worked with famous people like comedian Barry Humphries. He also worked at Pavilion Books from 1984 to 1988. He helped publish books by satirist John Wells and artist David Hockney. Most of his time was spent as a freelance author. This means he wrote books for different publishers. He wrote or helped with over one hundred non-fiction books.
Russell Ash was married to Caroline Ash. She works to raise money for the Malaria Consortium. They had one daughter and two sons.
His Later Life
Russell Ash lived in Lewes, East Sussex, from 1991. He passed away in 2010. He died from a heart attack.
His Books and Work
Russell Ash wrote many different kinds of books. He wrote for both adults and children. His topics included facts, art, history, and funny stories.
The Top 10 of Everything
His most famous work is The Top 10 of Everything. This book has been published every year since 1989. It was so popular that it became a children's TV show. The show was on ITV from 1998 to 2001. He also wrote other books related to this series:
- The Top 10 of Sport
- The Top 10 of Music
- The Top 10 of Film
- Top 10 for Men
- Top 10 of Britain
At first, Dorling Kindersley published Top 10 of Everything. Since 2006, Hamlyn has published it. The book has also been translated into many other languages.
Art Books
In the 1990s, Russell Ash wrote several art books. These books focused on different art movements and artists:
- The Pre-Raphaelites
- The Impressionists
- Artists like Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and James Tissot
- British artists such as Sir Edward Burne-Jones, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Lord Leighton, and Sir John Everett Millais
Books for Kids
He created many illustrated fact books for children. These books were full of interesting information. They were published by Dorling Kindersley. They were also sold in many countries. Some of these popular titles include:
- Incredible Comparisons (1996)
- The World in One Day (1997)
- The Factastic Book of 1001 Lists (1998)
- Factastic Millennium Facts (1999)
- Great Wonders of the World (2000)
Other Publications
Russell Ash also co-wrote Fish Who Answer the Telephone and Other Bizarre Books (2006) with Brian Lake. He helped with Whitaker's World of Facts every year. In North America, this book was called Firefly's World of Facts.
He wrote a series of funny books about real names:
- Potty, Fartwell & Knob: Extraordinary but True Names of British People (2007)
- Busty, Slag and Nob End (2009)
- Big Pants, Burpy and Bumface (2009) – this one was for children!
Russell Ash also wrote articles for different British newspapers. He contributed to annual books like Whitaker's Almanack. He also wrote for the Children's Writers' & Artists' Yearbook.
In 2008, he appeared on the TV show University Challenge: The Professionals. This was a quiz show on BBC2. He was part of the team representing the Society of Authors.
See also
- List of non-fiction writers
