John Wyndham

John Wyndham

John Wyndham John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris was a famous English science fiction writer, publishing several well known novels. He was born in 1903, married in 1963, and died six years later at the age of 65. He started writing for a living in 1925, mostly selling short science fiction stories to American Magazines. After WWII he returned to writing and in 1951 published "The Day of the Triffids". This was a great success and he went on the write six more novels. He was born on the 10th of July 1903 in Warwickshire, England. He was eight when his parents separated, and he and his younger brother Vivian spent most of their childhood with their mother. When he left school in 1921 he tried several careers, including farming, law, commercial art and advertising. In 1925, he started writing for a living. During the war he worked first as a censor, and then served as a corporal cipher operator. In 1963 he married Grace Wilson, a teacher he had known since 1930. He died on the 11th of March 1969 at the age of 65. John Wyndham started writing in 1925, and his stories were frequently appearing in American science fiction pulp magazines by 1931 under the name of "John Beynon" or "John Beynon Harris". From 1930 to 1939 he wrote exclusively for American magazines. In 1935 he released his first novel, “The Secret People”. He published another two before the war, the second, unlike his other works, was a detective story. After spending the war as a censor in the Ministry of Information (1940-43) and a cipher operator in the Royal Corps of Signals (1944), he continued writing, inspired by his brother who had had four novels published. In 1951 he published "The Day of the Triffids" under the more widely recognised name of "John Wyndham". He went on to write six more novels. Several of his stories have been turned into movies, including "The Day of the Triffids" and "The Midwich Cuckoos". Since his death more of his novels and collections of short stories have been published. John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris, born in Warwickshire, England, spent most of his childhood with his mother and brother, as his parents broke up when he was eight. He started writing science fiction in 1925, and featured in American magazines throughout the 1930’s. He wrote 10 novels, and during the war, worked as a censor and cipher operator. He married in 1963 and died in 1969. By Logan Glasson

Logan Glasson © 2009