Ronald Walter Ellis (born 12 September 1941) has been, among other occupations, a crime novelist, broadcaster, and journalist. In 1992, ''

The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...

'' described him as the "man with the most jobs in Britain".

Background

Born in

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, he studied library science at

Liverpool Polytechnic Liverpool John Moores University (abbreviated LJMU) is a public university, public research university in the city of Liverpool, England. The university can trace its origins to the Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts, established in 1823. This ...

. In 1966, he became one of the country's first mobile D.J.s. In 1976, he was appointed Northern Promotion Manager for

WEA The Wea were a Miami–Illinois-speaking Native American tribe originally located in western Indiana. Historically, they were described as being either closely related to the Miami tribe or a sub-tribe of Miami. Today, the descendants of th ...

(

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the ...

and

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

). He recorded a hit song, a punk anthem, "Boys on the Dole", which charted in the top 10 on the New Wave charts in 1979. In 1984, American biographer

Albert Goldman Albert Harry Goldman (April 15, 1927 – March 28, 1994) was an American academic and author. Goldman wrote about the culture and personalities of the American music industry, both in books and as a contributor to magazines. He is known for ...

hired him as

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

researcher for his book ''The Lives of John Lennon''. Ellis also broadcast football reports for

BBC Radio Merseyside BBC Radio Merseyside is the BBC's local radio station serving Merseyside, North and West Cheshire and West Lancashire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds, from studios on Hanover Street in Liverpool. According to RAJAR, t ...

. Ellis has written two books of self-published poems, one of which won the national Sefton Poetry Award in 1992, and a comedy book, ''Journal of a Coffin Dodger'', which was shortlisted for the Best British Audio Comedy Book in 2004. Ellis has written 10 crime novels. The Johnny Ace series, published by

Headline The headline is the text indicating the content or nature of the article below it, typically by providing a form of brief summary of its contents. The large type ''front page headline'' did not come into use until the late 19th century when incre ...

and

Allison & Busby Allison & Busby (A & B) is a publishing house based in London established by Clive Allison and Margaret Busby in 1967. The company has built up a reputation as a leading independent publisher. Background Launching as a publishing company in Ma ...

, features a Liverpool private investigator/radio presenter called Johnny Ace, and The DCI Glass series, three police procedurals. He also runs his own publishing company, Nirvana Books, featuring works by pop music broadcaster Spencer Leigh, local historian Joan A. Rimmer, and crime writers Kate Ellis and Eileen Dewhurst.

Bibliography

;The Johnny Ace crime novels *''Ears of the City'' *''Mean Streets'' *''Framed'' *''The Singing Dead'' *''Grave Mistake'' *''Single Shot'' *''City of Vultures'' ;The DCI Glass crime novels *''Murder First Glass'' *''Snort of Kings'' *''Murder on the Internet Nirvana'' (under the title ''Playground Ppets'') ;Humour *''Journal of a Coffin Dodger'' ;Social History *''Southport Faces'' ;Poems *''Diary of a Discothèque'' *''The Last of the Lake Poets''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Ron English crime writers English broadcasters 1941 births Living people 20th-century English writers