Brian Thompson (writer)
Brian John William Thompson (1935–2021) was a British writer.
Life
Thompson was born in Lambeth, South London. His parents were Bert Thompson, a post office engineer, and Ada Mills (known as Peggy).[1][2] He attended Hertford Grammar School before completing National Service with the King's African Rifles in Kenya during the Mau Mau uprising.[1][2] He later studied English at Trinity College, Cambridge.[1][2]
Thompson worked as a teacher in Shrewsbury and Ripon, North Yorkshire, and later served as warden of Swarthmore, an adult education centre in Leeds.[1] There he met novelist Elizabeth North, with whom he later lived in Yorkshire and Charente, France.[1]
Writing
Notable works include his novel Buddy Boy, set in wartime Cambridge, and the play Tishoo (1979), staged in London's West End.[1][2] He wrote television scripts for series such as Rockcliffe's Babies, Campion, and the BBC drama Chelworth (1989).[1]
His biographical works include A Monkey Among Crocodiles (2001)[3], about Victorian figure Georgina Weldon, and the memoir Keeping Mum (2006), which won the Costa Book Award for Biography. Keeping Mum detailed his parents' troubled marriage and his childhood.[2] The sequel, Clever Girl (2007), continued this narrative.[1]