Leonard Malcolm Saville (21 February 1901–30 June 1982)
Retrieved 16 July 2016 was an English writer best known for the ''
Lone Pine'' series of children's books, many of which are set in
Shropshire
Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...
. His work emphasises location; the books include many vivid descriptions of English countryside, villages and sometimes towns.
Early life and career
He was born in
Hastings
Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...
,
Sussex
Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...
, and was educated at Richmond Hill School, in
Richmond, Surrey
Richmond is a town in south-west London,The London Government Act 1963 (c.33) (as amended) categorises the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames as an Outer London borough. Although it is on both sides of the River Thames, the Boundary Commis ...
. His working life began at
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...
in 1918,
[The Author, ''Witchend.com'']
Retrieved 16 July 2016 then continued as a publicist with
Cassell & Co (1920–1922),
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City.
Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
(1922–1936), and
George Newnes Ltd
George Newnes Ltd is a British publisher. The company was founded in 1891 by George Newnes (1851–1910), considered a founding father of popular journalism. Newnes published such magazines and periodicals as '' Tit-Bits'', '' The Wide World Ma ...
(1936–1941).
[ He was also the associate editor of ''My Garden'' magazine, before taking over editorship of '' Sunny Stories'' from ]Enid Blyton
Enid Mary Blyton (11 August 1897 – 28 November 1968) was an English children's writer, whose books have been worldwide bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Her books are still enormously popular and have been tra ...
in 1954, when she left to set up her own magazine in direct competition.
Saville's writing career, from 1943 to 1982, was initially a diversion from his working life. His first book, ''Mystery at Witchend'', was set in Shropshire, a county he had first visited in 1936, and was written when his children had been evacuated to the county from the family home in Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...
.[ It was adapted for ]BBC radio
BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...
broadcast in 1943, and was followed by a further 19 children's books in the ''Lone Pine'' series, the last one published in 1978. Several of his 90 books were serialised for broadcast on radio, many on ''Children's Hour
''Children's Hour'', initially ''The Children's Hour'', was the BBC's principal recreational service for children (as distinct from "Broadcasts to Schools") which began during the period when radio was the only medium of broadcasting.
''Childre ...
'', and his 1953 book ''The Ambermere Treasure'', part of the Jillies series, was serialised by Associated-Rediffusion
Associated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion London, was the British ITV franchise holder for London and parts of the surrounding counties, on weekdays between 22 September 1955 and 29 July 1968. It was the first ITA franchisee to go on air, ...
, the first commercial television company to broadcast in the United Kingdom, in late 1955 and early 1956; it was therefore one of the first ITV children's drama series. Saville also wrote many short stories and magazine articles.
Personal life
His marriage to Dorothy (née McCoy) in 1926 produced four children. Saville had strong moral convictions, and was a practising Christian
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
.
He died in Hastings in 1982, aged 81.
Book list
All dates in the list below refer to the first date of publication. Some of the earlier titles were reissued in revised editions in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Some of the books were translated into Spanish and Dutch.
Lone Pine series
* ''Mystery at Witchend'' (1943)
* ''Seven White Gates'' (1944)
* ''The Gay Dolphin Adventure'' (1945)
* ''The Secret of Grey Walls'' (1947)
* ''Lone Pine Five'' (1949)
* ''The Elusive Grasshopper'' (1951)
* ''The Neglected Mountain'' (1953)
* ''Saucers Over The Moor'' (1955)
* ''Wings Over Witchend'' (1956)
* ''Lone Pine London'' (1957)
* ''The Secret of the Gorge'' (1958)
* ''Mystery Mine'' (1959)
* ''Sea Witch Comes Home'' (1960)
* ''Not Scarlet But Gold'' (1962)
* ''Treasure at Amorys'' (1964)
* ''Man With Three Fingers'' (1966)
* ''Rye Royal'' (1969)
* ''Strangers at Witchend'' (1970)
* ''Where's My Girl?'' (1972)
* ''Home To Witchend'' (1978)
Buckingham series
* ''The Master of Maryknoll'' (1950)
* ''The Buckinghams at Ravenswyke'' (1952)
* ''The Long Passage'' (1954)
* ''A Palace for the Buckinghams'' (1963)
* ''The Secret of the Villa Rosa'' (1971)
* ''Diamond in the Sky'' (1974)
Jillies series
* ''Redshank's Warning'' (1948)
* ''Two Fair Plaits'' (1948); reprinted as ''Secret in the Mist'' in 1952, but reverted to its original title for subsequent editions.
* ''Strangers at Snowfell'' (1949)
* ''The Sign of the Alpine Rose'' (1950)
* ''The Luck of Sallowby'' (1952)
* ''The Ambermere Treasure'' (1953)
Nettleford series
* ''All Summer Through'' (1951)
* ''Christmas at Nettleford'' (1953)
* ''Spring Comes To Nettleford'' (1954)
* ''The Secret of Buzzard Scar'' (1955)
Marston Baines series
* ''Three Towers in Tuscany'' (1963)
* ''The Purple Valley'' (1964)
* ''Dark Danger'' (1965)
* ''White Fire'' (1966)
* ''Power of Three'' (1968)
* ''The Dagger and the Flame'' (1970)
* ''Marston – Master Spy'' (1978)
Susan and Bill series
* ''Susan, Bill and the Wolf Dog'' (1954)
* ''Susan, Bill and the Ivy-Clad Oak'' (1954)
* ''Susan, Bill and the Vanishing Boy'' (1955)
* ''Susan, Bill and the Golden Clock'' (1955)
* ''Susan, Bill and the 'Saucy Kate (1956)
* ''Susan, Bill and the Dark Stranger'' (1956)
* ''Susan, Bill and the Bright Star Circus'' (1960)
* ''Susan, Bill and the Pirates Bold'' (1961)
Michael and Mary series
* ''Trouble at Townsend'' (1945) – when it was first published, this book was filmed by the Rank Organisation
The Rank Organisation (founded as the J. Arthur Rank Organisation) is a British entertainment conglomerate founded in 1937 by industrialist J. Arthur Rank. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the Uni ...
starring a young Petula Clark
Sally "Petula" Clark (born 15 November 1932) is a British singer, actress, and songwriter. She started her professional career as a child actor, child performer and has had the longest career of any British entertainer, spanning more than 85 y ...
.
* ''The Riddle of the Painted Box'' (1947)
* ''The Flying Fish Adventure'' (1950)
* ''The Secret of the Hidden Pool'' (1953)
* ''Where The Bus Stopped'' (1955) – actually a short story which was published as a book in its own right, although it also appeared in anthologies.
* ''Young Johnnie Bimbo'' (1956)
* ''The Fourth Key'' (1957)
Brown Family series
* ''Four And Twenty Blackbirds'' (1959) – retitled ''The Secret of Galleybird Pit'' in editions published after 1967.
* ''Good Dog Dandy'' (1971)
* ''The Roman Treasure Mystery'' (1973)
Other fiction books
* ''Treasure at the Mill'' (1957)
* ''The Thin Grey Man'' (1966)
Travel books
* ''Come to London'' (1967)
* ''Come to Devon'' (1969)
* ''Come to Cornwall'' (1969)
* ''Come to Somerset'' (1970)
* ''Portrait of Rye'' (1976)
* ''The Silent Hills of Shropshire'' (1998)
Nature and countryside books
* ''Country Scrapbook for Boys and Girls'' (1944)
* ''Open Air Scrapbook for Boys and Girls'' (1945)
* ''Seaside Scrapbook for Boys and Girls'' (1946)
* ''Jane's Country Year'' (1946)
* ''Small Creatures'' (1959)
* ''Malcolm Saville's Country Book'' (1961) – an updated revision and expansion of the ''Country Scrapbook'' and ''Open Air Scrapbook''.
* ''Malcolm Saville's Seaside Book'' (1962) – a similar updated revision and expansion of the ''Seaside Scrapbook''.
* ''See How It Grows'' (1971)
* ''Eat What You Grow'' (1975)
* ''The Countryside Quiz'' (1978)
* ''The Wonder Why Book of Exploring a Wood'' (1978)
* ''The Wonder Why Book of Exploring the Seashore'' (1979)
* ''The Wonder Why Book of Wild Flowers Through the Year'' (1980)
* ''The Seashore Quiz'' (1981)
Religious books
* ''King of Kings'' (1958)
* ''Strange Story'' (1967)
Other non-fiction
* ''The Adventure of the Lifeboat Service'' (1950)
* ''The Coronation Gift Book for Boys and Girls'' (1952) – Although written for children to enable them to understand the process of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation, the book was informative enough for it to be read by adults as well.
* ''The Story of Winchelsea
Winchelsea () is a town in the county of East Sussex, England, located between the High Weald and the Romney Marsh, approximately south west of Rye and north east of Hastings. The current town, which was founded in 1288, replaced an earli ...
Church'' (1978)
Saville also edited ''Words For All Seasons'', a poetry anthology first published in 1979. He began a book on the Shropshire
Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...
countryside he loved, ''The Silent Hills of Shropshire'', but died before he could finish it; it was completed by Mark O'Hanlon and published in 1998. Mark O'Hanlon's biography of Saville, ''Beyond the Lone Pine'' which was published to coincide with the centenary of Saville's birth in 2001, is also now out of print. Another book by Mark O'Hanlon called ''The Complete Lone Pine'' – a guide to the entire series – was published in 1996 and was reprinted in an extended hardback edition in 2005.
References
External links
The Malcolm Saville Society
Malcolm Saville Online
An index of his books
''Telegraph'' article, 2002, on Saville's legacy
Watson, Victor (2001). ''The Cambridge Guide to Children's Books in English'' Cambridge University Press 627–628
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saville, Leonard Malcolm
1901 births
1982 deaths
English children's writers
Writers from Hastings
English Christians
20th-century English novelists