Graham Lord (16 February 1943 – 13 June 2015) was a British biographer and novelist. His biographies include those of

Jeffrey Bernard Jeffrey Joseph Bernard (; 27 May 1932 – 4 September 1997) was an English journalist, best known for his weekly column "Low Life" in ''The Spectator'' magazine, and also notorious for a feckless and chaotic career and life of alcohol abus ...

James Herriot James Alfred Wight (3 October 1916 – 23 February 1995), better known by his pen name James Herriot, was a British veterinary surgeon and author. Born in Sunderland, Wight graduated from Glasgow Veterinary College in 1939, returning to En ...

Dick Francis Richard Stanley Francis (31 October 1920 – 14 February 2010) was a British steeplechase jockey and crime writer whose novels centre on horse racing in England. After wartime service in the RAF, Francis became a full-time jump-jockey, winn ...

, Arthur Lowe,

David Niven James David Graham Niven (; 1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983) was an English actor, soldier, raconteur, memoirist and novelist. Niven was known as a handsome and debonair leading man in Classic Hollywood films. His accolades include an Academ ...

John Mortimer Sir John Clifford Mortimer (21 April 1923 – 16 January 2009) was a British barrister, dramatist, screenwriter and author. He is best known for short stories about a barrister named Horace Rumpole, adapted from episodes of the TV series '' R ...

and

Joan Collins Dame Joan Henrietta Collins (born 23 May 1933) is an English actress, author and columnist. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Awards, a People's Choice Award, two Soap Opera Digest Awards and a Primetime Emm ...

. He was the

literary editor A literary editor is a editor responsible for refining and overseeing the quality of written content in a newspaper, magazine or other publication. Literary editor deals with aspects concerning literature and books, especially reviews. A literary ...

of the ''

Sunday Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet ...

'' for 23 years, from 1969 to 1992.

Life

Lord was born in

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing British Crown colony in Southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally known as South ...

(now

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

), raised in

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

, educated at Falcon College,

and took an honours degree in History at

Churchill College, Cambridge Churchill College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. It has a primary focus on science, engineering and technology, but retains a strong interest in the arts ...

, where he edited the university newspaper '' Varsity''. After working briefly for the ''

Cambridge Evening News The ''Cambridge News'' (formerly the ''Cambridge Evening News'') is a British daily newspaper. Published each weekday and on Saturdays, it is distributed from its Milton base. In the period December 2010 – June 2011 it had an average daily c ...

'', in 1965 he joined the ''

'' in London as a reporter and feature writer, where he spent 23 years as Literary Editor, wrote a weekly column about books and interviewed almost every major English language author of the 1960s to 1990s, including

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a re ...

, Dame

Muriel Spark Dame Muriel Sarah Spark (; 1 February 1918 – 13 April 2006). was a List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist, short story writer, poet and essayist. Life Muriel Camberg was born in the Bruntsfield area of Edinburgh, the daughter of Bernar ...

and

Ruth Rendell Ruth Barbara Rendell, Baroness Rendell of Babergh, (; 17 February 1930 – 2 May 2015) was an English author of thrillers and psychological murder mysteries. Rendell is best known for creating Chief Inspector Wexford.The Oxford Companion ...

. From 1982 to 1988 he was vice-chairman of Newbury Mencap, from 1985-87 he represented the Lambourn Valley as a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

councillor on Newbury District Council, and in 1987 he launched the £20,000 ''

'' Book of the Year Award. After leaving the ''Sunday Express'' in 1992 to become a full-time author, he wrote regularly for ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'', ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' and the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...

''. From 1994 to 1996, he edited the short story magazine '' Raconteur''. He also published a memoir of the people he met during his forty years in Fleet Street, ''Lord's Ladies and Gentlemen: 100 Legends of the 20th Century'', which includes an unflattering profile of his former editor at the ''Sunday Express'', Sir John Junor. In addition, his other books include an autobiographical portrait of

and

, nine novels, and a collection of short stories, essays and journalism, ''Lord of the Files''. His books have been translated into French, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, German, Russian and Chinese. Graham Lord lived with his wife, Juliet, an artist, on

Nevis Nevis ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea that forms part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies. Nevis and the neighbouring island of Saint Kitts constitute the Saint Kitts and Nevis, Federation of Saint Kitts ...

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

, and also in France.

Death

Lord died of liver cancer on 13 June 2015, at the age of 72.

Publications

Biographies

* ''Just The One: The Wives and Times of Jeffrey Bernard'', Sinclair-Stevenson, 1992 * ''James Herriot: The Life of a Country Vet'', Headline, 1997. * ''Dick Francis: A Racing Life'', Little, Brown & Co, 1999 * ''Arthur Lowe: A Life that Led to Mainwaring'', Orion, 2002 * ''Niv: The Authorised Biography of David Niven'', Orion, 2004 * ''John Mortimer: The Devil's Advocate - The Unauthorised Biography'', Orion, 2005 * ''Joan Collins: The Biography of an Icon'', Orion, 2007

Novels

* ''Marshmallow Pie'', Macmillan, 1970 * ''A Roof Under Your Feet'', Macdonald, 1973 * ''The Spider and the Fly'', Hamish Hamilton, 1974 * ''God and All His Angels'', Hamish Hamilton, 1976 * ''The Nostradamus Horoscope'', Hutchinson, 1981 * ''Time Out of Mind'', Hamish Hamilton, 1986 * ''A Party to Die For'', Little, Brown & Co, 1997 * ''Sorry - We're Going to Have to Let You Go'', Little, Brown & Co, 1999 * ''Under a Hammock Moon'', Fern Hill Books, 2012

Memoir

* ''Ghosts of King Solomon's Mines: Mozambique and Zimbabwe. A Quest'',

Sinclair-Stevenson Sinclair-Stevenson Ltd was a British publisher founded in 1989 by Christopher Sinclair-Stevenson. Christopher Sinclair-Stevenson became an editor at Hamish Hamilton Hamish Hamilton Limited is a publishing imprint and originally a British p ...

, 1991 * ''Lord's Ladies and Gentlemen: 100 Legends of the 20th Century'', Fern Hill Books, 2012

Anthology

• ''Lord of the Files: Short Stories, Essays and Journalism'', Fern Hill Books, 2013 * ''A Splinter of Ice: Short Stories'',

Amazon Kindle Amazon Kindle is a series of e-readers designed and marketed by Amazon. Amazon Kindle devices enable users to browse, buy, download, and read e-books, newspapers, magazines, Audible audiobooks, and other digital media via wireless networking ...

, 2013

References

External links

Summaries and reviews of his books
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lord, Graham 1943 births 2015 deaths Alumni of Falcon College Alumni of Churchill College, Cambridge British male journalists British literary editors Conservative Party (UK) councillors Councillors in Berkshire Deaths from liver cancer Daily Express people English biographers Place of death missing English male novelists 20th-century English novelists 20th-century British biographers 20th-century English male writers English male non-fiction writers British male biographers