John Charles Pollock (1924 – 6 January 2012) was a Christian author. He was the official biographer of
Billy Graham
William Franklin Graham Jr. (November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018) was an American evangelist and an ordained Southern Baptist minister who became well known internationally in the late 1940s. He was a prominent evangelical Christi ...
and lived with his wife in rural North Devon, England.
Writings
One of his best known books is ''The Apostle, A Life of Paul''. This book presents
Paul the Apostle and his life as taken from his journeys in
Biblical times. The story takes the modern day reader back into history. It portrays Paul as he deals with personal issues while trying to deal with his conversion to
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesu ...
. He wrote extensively on
William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce (24 August 175929 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually bec ...
, including a full-length biography (1977) which has never been out of print. He also wrote about
John Newton
John Newton (; – 21 December 1807) was an English evangelical Anglican cleric and slavery abolitionist. He had previously been a captain of slave ships and an investor in the slave trade. He served as a sailor in the Royal Navy (after forc ...
, composer of the hymn
Amazing Grace, and was a board member of the John Newton Project.
His other biographies cover many other renowned Christian individuals, including
Hudson and
Maria Taylor (1965),
L. Nelson Bell (1971),
D.L. Moody (1972 & 1983)
Lord Shaftesbury (1985), and
John Wesley (1989); and groups, such as The
Siberian Seven (1979) and The
Cambridge Seven
The Cambridge Seven were six students from Cambridge University and one from the Royal Military Academy, who in 1885, decided to become missionaries to China through the China Inland Mission. The seven were:
* Charles Thomas Studd
* Montagu ...
(1985). In the 1990s, Pollock also wrote biographies of several
Victorian
Victorian or Victorians may refer to:
19th century
* Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign
** Victorian architecture
** Victorian house
** Victorian decorative arts
** Victorian fashion
** Victorian literature ...
figures, including
Gordon of Khartoum
Gordon may refer to:
People
* Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters
* Gordon (surname), the surname
* Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War
* Clan Gordon, ...
,
Lord Kitchener Lord Kitchener may refer to:
* Earl Kitchener, for the title
* Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener
Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, (; 24 June 1850 – 5 June 1916) was a senior British Army officer and colonial administrator. ...
and
Henry Havelock.
Personal life
Pollock was born in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
and was educated at
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...
. He taught teaching history and divinity for two years at
Wellington College. He was then
rector
Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to:
Style or title
*Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations
*Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...
of a country parish until he became a full-time writer in 1958.
John and his wife Anne, were keen walkers and did not fuss about bad weather; they were frequently to be seen pacing along the Devon lanes in the rain, seemingly impervious to the cold of Exmoor. This strength of resolve was a hallmark of John Pollock's life which was filled with managing woodlands, writing, gardening, family history, music and travelling.
John Pollock was taken ill on a walking holiday in Scotland and died after a short illness on 6 January 2012.
Selected works
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References
English non-fiction writers
2012 deaths
Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
20th-century English Anglican priests
Evangelical Anglican clergy
1924 births
English male non-fiction writers
Anglican writers
People from North Devon (district)
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