John Wyndham

John Wyndham (July 10, 1903 – March 11, 1969) was the pen name used by the often post-apocalyptic British science fiction writer John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris.

Biography

John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris was born in the village of Knowle just outside Birmingham, England. He lived in Edgbaston until he was eight years old at which point his parents, George Beynon Harris and Gertrude Parkes, separated, he and his brother, the writer Vivian Beynon Harris, had no settled home after this time.

Related Topics:
Knowle - Birmingham - England - Edgbaston

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He grew up in a series of English boarding schools, staying longest at Bedales (1918-1921), which he left at the age of 18.

Related Topics:
1918 - 1921

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Despite this, his brother Vivian says: "He had a wonderful childhood and teenage time."

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After leaving school he studied farming for a while, changed his mind about going to Oxford University and tried several ways of earning a living, but mostly relying on an allowance from his family. He eventually turned to writing for money in 1925, but before he decided on this occupation, he had also tried a number of other careers such as law, commercial art and advertising. Throughout the 1930s he wrote many stories, mainly for American periodicals. He wrote some detective stories as well as science fiction.

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Between 1940 and 1943, Wyndham was a civil servant with the British Government, working in censorship. He went into the army, where he was a Corporal Cipher Operator in the Royal Signal Corps, in time to participate in the Normandy landings.

Related Topics:
Royal Signal Corps - Normandy landings

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In 1963 he married Grace Wilson. The couple lived out their lives near Petersfield, Hampshire, just outside the grounds of Bedales School.

Related Topics:
Petersfield, Hampshire - Bedales School

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