Peter Townend (novelist)
Encyclopedia
Peter Townend (6 March 1935 - 6 June 1999) http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-peter-townend-1109281.html was a thriller writer, photographer, bit-part actor and journalist.
where he became part of future thriller writer Alan Williams
's entourage.
After graduating he dabbled in filmmaking, getting small parts in films and plays. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-peter-townend-1109281.html
He eventually moved to Spain
, befriending many expatriates including Gerald Brenan
and famous transsexual
April Ashley
. http://www.antijen.org/Aprilv1 While there, he co-founded Look Out,http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-peter-townend-1109281.html Spain's first English-language literary and travel magazine. Essentially a two-man operation, the magazine had Townend editing, art directing and writing features. He also did the magazine's photography, a hobby he relished. Townend's own photography appears in several books: Jonathan Gathorne-Hardy
's 1992 biography of Gerald Brenan The Interior Castle, and Brenan's own memoirs.
Townend's passions included poker
, roulette
and photography
. He often wrote about these interests in his novels, several of which feature one-eyed photographer (partial to the Nikon F
)http://www.graysofwestminster.co.uk/products/secondhand.php?cat1=1&pg=1&THESESSION=f574865c0adacd3c6d025167775d16eb and occasional British spy
Philip Quest. Townend described Quest as a hard-living, fast-traveling, and over-sexed photojournalist who keeps a gun hidden beneath a carton of 120 Ektachrome
film. http://www.billjayonphotography.com/PhotographerAsAggressor.pdf The Daily Telegraph
suggested that Townend might be the new Ian Fleming
.
In 1973 he married Kate Moffat http://thepeerage.com/p2114.htm#i21131. Together they raised her two sons from her previous marriage to screenwriter
-director
Ivan Moffat
.
Life and work
Townend studied the classics at King's CollegeKing's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is "The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge", but it is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the University....
where he became part of future thriller writer Alan Williams
Alan Williams (novelist)
Alan Williams is an ex-foreign correspondent, novelist and writer of thrillers. He was educated at Stowe, Grenoble and Heidelberg Universities, and at King's College, Cambridge. His father was the actor and writer Emlyn Williams. His younger brother Brook was also an actor.Williams was briefly...
's entourage.
After graduating he dabbled in filmmaking, getting small parts in films and plays. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-peter-townend-1109281.html
He eventually moved to Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, befriending many expatriates including Gerald Brenan
Gerald Brenan
Edward FitzGerald "Gerald" Brenan, CBE was a British writer and Hispanist who spent much of his life in Spain.He is best known for The Spanish Labyrinth, a historical work on the background to the Spanish Civil War, and for South from Granada: Seven Years in an Andalusian Village...
and famous transsexual
April Ashley
April Ashley
April Ashley is an English model and restaurant hostess. She was the first British person to be outed as a transsexual, which was by the Sunday People in 1961...
. http://www.antijen.org/Aprilv1 While there, he co-founded Look Out,http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-peter-townend-1109281.html Spain's first English-language literary and travel magazine. Essentially a two-man operation, the magazine had Townend editing, art directing and writing features. He also did the magazine's photography, a hobby he relished. Townend's own photography appears in several books: Jonathan Gathorne-Hardy
Jonathan Gathorne-Hardy
Jonathan Gathorne-Hardy is a British author, known for biographies, including one of Alfred Kinsey, and books of social history on the British nanny and public school system. For his autobiography, Half an Arch, he received the J. R. Ackerley Prize for Autobiography in 2005...
's 1992 biography of Gerald Brenan The Interior Castle, and Brenan's own memoirs.
Townend's passions included poker
Poker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
, roulette
Roulette
Roulette is a casino game named after a French diminutive for little wheel. In the game, players may choose to place bets on either a single number or a range of numbers, the colors red or black, or whether the number is odd or even....
and photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
. He often wrote about these interests in his novels, several of which feature one-eyed photographer (partial to the Nikon F
Nikon F
The Nikon F camera, introduced in 1959, was Nikon's first SLR camera. It was one of the most advanced cameras of its day. Although most of its concepts had already been introduced elsewhere, it was the first camera to combine them all in one camera. It was produced until October 1973 and was...
)http://www.graysofwestminster.co.uk/products/secondhand.php?cat1=1&pg=1&THESESSION=f574865c0adacd3c6d025167775d16eb and occasional British spy
SPY
SPY is a three-letter acronym that may refer to:* SPY , ticker symbol for Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts* SPY , a satirical monthly, trademarked all-caps* SPY , airport code for San Pédro, Côte d'Ivoire...
Philip Quest. Townend described Quest as a hard-living, fast-traveling, and over-sexed photojournalist who keeps a gun hidden beneath a carton of 120 Ektachrome
Ektachrome
Ektachrome is a brand name owned by Kodak for a range of transparency, still, and motion picture films available in most formats, including 35 mm and sheet sizes to 11x14 inch size. Ektachrome has a distinctive look that became familiar to many readers of National Geographic, which used it...
film. http://www.billjayonphotography.com/PhotographerAsAggressor.pdf The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
suggested that Townend might be the new Ian Fleming
Ian Fleming
Ian Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...
.
In 1973 he married Kate Moffat http://thepeerage.com/p2114.htm#i21131. Together they raised her two sons from her previous marriage to screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
-director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
Ivan Moffat
Ivan Moffat
Ivan Moffat was a British screenwriter and associate producer who, with Fred Guiol, was nominated for an Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay for adapting Edna Ferber's novel Giant into the film Giant....
.
Novels
- Zero Always Wins [1961] published under pseudonym Peter Gascoigne.
- Out of Focus [1971]
- Zoom [1972]
- Fisheye [1974]
- Triple Exposure Quest #1 [1979]