John Gardner (British writer)

John Edmund Gardner (20 November 1926 – 3 August 2007) was an English spy and thriller novelist, best known for his James Bond continuation novels, but also for his series of Boysie Oakes books and three continuation novels containing Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional villain, Professor Moriarty.

Gardner, an ex-Royal Marine commando, worked for a period as an Anglican priest, but he lost his faith and left the church after a short time. After a battle with alcohol addiction he wrote his first book, the autobiographical Spin the Bottle, published in 1964.

Gardner went on to write over fifty works of fiction, including fourteen original James Bond novels, and the novel versions of two Bond films. He died from suspected heart failure on 3 August 2007.

Early life

John Edmund Gardner was born on 20 November 1926 in Seaton Delaval, a small village in Northumberland. His parents were Cyril Gardner, a London-born Anglican priest who had been ordained in Wallsend in 1921, and Lena Henderson, a local girl; the couple were married in 1925. In 1933 the family moved to the market town of Wantage in what was then Berkshire, where Cyril took up the position of Chaplain at St Mary's, Wantage and Gardner was educated at the local King Alfred's School.

John Gardner

John Gardner may refer to:

Arts and literature

Law, education and government

John Gardner (American writer)

John Champlin Gardner Jr. (July 21, 1933 – September 14, 1982) was an American novelist, essayist, literary critic and university professor. He is perhaps most noted for his novel Grendel, a retelling of the Beowulf myth from the monster's point of view.

Early life and education

Gardner was born in Batavia, New York. His father was a lay preacher and dairy farmer, and his mother taught English at a local school. Both parents were fond of Shakespeare and often recited literature together. He was active in the Boy Scouts of America and made Eagle Scout. As a child, Gardner attended public school and worked on his father's farm, where, in April 1945, his younger brother Gilbert was killed in an accident with a cultipacker. Gardner, who was driving the tractor during the fatal accident, carried guilt for his brother's death throughout his life, suffering nightmares and flashbacks. The incident informed much of Gardner's fiction and criticism — most directly in the 1977 short story "Redemption," which included a fictionalized recounting of the accident.

John Gardner (Continental Congress)

John Gardner (1747–1808) was an American farmer from South Kingstown and Narragansett, Rhode Island. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress for Rhode Island in 1789. Many sources spell his last name as Gardiner.

John’s parents were Colonel John Gardner (1696–1770) and his second wife, Mary (Taylor) Gardner. He was born in South Kingstown in 1747. During the early days of the Revolutionary War he served with a militia company known as the Kingstown Reds, and was commissioned as a Captain in November 1775.

Gardner served several times as a judge, or justice of the peace. His first such appointment came in 1776, and his last in 1791. In 1786 and 1787 he served in the Rhode Island general assembly. The assembly sent him as a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1789.

John died in South Kingstown on October 18, 1808.

External links