Where Are They Now? OB Authors
See also: Where Are They Now? > OBs in the Military
Bartlett, Dr Michael C OH 1949-53
Battling a deadly diphtheria outbreak alone was all in a day's – or a few months' – work for a country GP of a bygone era, as described in this excerpt from the fascinating memoir of Dr Felix Bartlett. Dr Bartlett worked in Cowra, NSW, at the turn of the previous century. His memoires were edited by his grandson, OB Michael Bartlett. A more detailed biography can be seen lower down this page.
Cole, Rob OH 1970-75
The British & Irish Lions the Official History
Rob Cole (OH 1970-75) & Chris Thomas (OH 1970-75) updating the previous work carried out by another OB Clem Thomas with their book titled: ‘The British & Irish Lions the Official History,’ covering all things Lion Rugby and how Blundellians have been involved over the years on these prestigious events.
www.visionsp.co.uk/official-histories/#lions-history
Collins, Ben ('The Stig')FH 1988-93
The former Top Gear Stig, Ben Collins (FH 1988-93) has written ‘Aston Martin: Made in Britain,’ a story of spies, speed and a hard-driving genius: a driver's love letter to one of the world's best-loved machines.
blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Aston-Martin-by-Ben-Collins/2100000262960
Dawson-Bowling, Dr Paul M 1953-60
“The Wagner Experience”. In this bicentenary celebration of Wagner and his music, Paul Dawson-Bowling introduces, deepens and enriches the Wagner Experience for the newcomer and the seasoned Wagnerian alike. Expounding in colourful style the stories, the sources and the lessons of Wagner’s great dramas, he offers unusual insights into the man, his works and their meaning, while grappling with the music’s almost occult power.
Please click here to see a review on the book or here for details on how to purchase the book.
Fielding, David FH 1948-54
An Old Blundellian reminisces on his time at Blundell’s between 1948-1954.
Gallagher, Charles SH 1937-42
"Memories of a Different World: My tribute to all those who served in Bomber Command" has recently been published - part of the proceeds will go to the RAF Benevolent Fund. The book is priced at £7.99 + P&P. You can see the website for the book here.
Gunton, Paul P 1952-57
For most of us the only travelling involved in tea drinking is carrying a steaming cuppa from the kitchen to a comfy chair. But for those in the trade, growing, selecting, tasting, blending, shipping and selling tea once constituted a passport to travel in exotic places. In this fascinating and amusing book, Paul Gunton describes his life as a tea taster, recounting the story of 40 years spent in the trade, travelling in India, Africa, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, England and Ireland. With a light touch he describes the job he did, the people he met and the places he saw during his working life in the tea trade. In the Global Village of the 21st Century, Travels in a Teacup is a refreshing description of a world that has largely disappeared.
Hollands, John OH 1946-51
John Hollands has had two books published to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the end of the Korean War.
“Heroes of the Hook” relates to his personal experiences as a National Serviceman, culminating in the Battle of The Hook, a hill on which more men died than any other hill in Korea.
From these experiences, Hollands went on to write his famous anti-war novel “The Dead, the Dying and the Damned”. This is now re-issued and the two books form a fascinating picture of how as a 20 year old, he converted his experiences into a book which became the definitive novel of the Korean War, with sales now over 3 million.
John's latest novel is set in the time of the Great War. It is already on Kindle and will be published in hardback early in 2018 to coincide with 100th anniversary of the Great War Armistice, later in the year. It is entitled "The Man Who Shot Siegfried Sassoon". 
Sassoon was one of the leading poets of the Great War but he will be remembered most for his protest against the war in 1917. It was a very strange, mutinous act from a man who was hitherto regarded as a hero, with a Military Cross to his credit. Indeed, it was one of the many mysteries of the Great War.
In a historical novel, and drawing of fresh material, John Hollands sets out to solve the mystery of why one of Sassoon's men should want to shoot him, and why he only succeeded in wounding him. A 'Whodunnit' with an original twist.
For full details, look up John's website.
Hopkinson-Woolley, Alexander W 1948-53
It matters whether we believe in God or not. No one can prove that there isn't a god and no one can prove that there is. However we can find signposts. In an interesting new book, A New Vision: A Fresh Beginning, Alexander Woolley looks for them and claims to have identified them.
You can get a copy of the book via most major book retailers.
Japes, David (former master)
Former Master David Japes has written a book about the career of William Payne, 1760-1840, a water colourist who sought to improve the fortifications of Plymouth. This work and experience gave Payne a detailed knowledge of the area and his talents as a water colourist led to commissions from local landowners and acceptance of his work by the Royal academy after 1786. In 1790 Payne returned to London and set up as a Drawing Master and the rest as they say is history. Payne became one of the great Romantic artists of the Picturesque. He gave his name to a colour: 'Payne's Grey', fell out of fashion for a time and has been re-appreciated, largely thanks to Japes' pioneering scholarship. Please click here to read the book review by former master Charles Noon.
Johnson, Hamish FH 1958-62
"Matthew Forster Heddle: Mineralogist and Mountaineer" is the first ever biography of Professor Matthew Forster Heddle, (1828-1897) who was Scotland’s greatest mineralogist. It was published on 7th May 2015 by the publishing arm of National Museums Scotland, which holds Heddle’s great collection. Hamish is not making any personal gain from sales of the book as he has offered all his royalties back to the publisher, National Museums Scotland, who hold Heddle's great mineral collection.
Kitson, Rob (parent)
‘Exe Men’ – The Rise of the Exeter Chiefs
How, exactly, did an unfashionable rugby club from Devon emerge from the lower leagues to become the double champions of England and Europe? The remarkable story of the Exeter Chiefs is the subject of a new book, Exe Men, written by a recent Blundell's parent and local resident, Robert Kitson, who has charted the team's relentless rise over the past three decades and tracked down all the key individuals involved. Signed books (£15) are available from the Development Office but please email (info@fionayoga.co.uk) to place an order before collecting. Otherwise, you can get a copy of the book via most major book retailers.
Leigh, Charlie W 1999-2004
Charlie Leigh has written a Middle Eastern travel book, Educating an Englistanee... Inshallah (with illustrations from current Blundellian Lauren Kalsi), following his adventures in Turkey, Iran, Yemen, Egypt and Lebanon. All profits will go towards Canon Andrew White's interfaith charity 'The Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East' (FRRME).
Lett, Brian, QC (parent)
I am delighted to announce that my new book: "The Small Scale Raiding Force" has now been published. It completes the saga of the real life "James Bonds" who served under the Secret Service chief who actually used the code name "M", Sir Colin Gubbins. The first part of the story is told in my earlier book: "Ian Fleming and SOE's Operation Postmaster". The new book is available at:
www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/The-Small-Scale-Raiding-Force/p/4178, and also on Amazon.
It includes the story of the only "James Bond" to win the Victoria Cross.
Lloyd-Jones, Robin OH 1947-53
“‘The Sunlit Summit’ a biography of the Scottish mountaineer, writer and conservationist, W.H. Murray was written by OB Robin Lloyd-Jones. William Hutchison Murray (1913 - 1996) was one of Scotland’s most distinguished climbers in the years before and after the Second World War. As a prisoner of war in Europe he wrote his first classic book, Mountaineering in Scotland, which was confiscated and destroyed by the Gestapo. In 1951 he was depute leader to Eric Shipton on the Everest reconnaissance expedition. In later years he wrote some of the best guides to the Highlands and islands ever published as well as becoming a highly regarded conservationist.
Lord, Katharine GH 1987-89
OB Katharine Lord has worked as an art consultant, curating collections for palaces and embassies in Europe and the Middle East. She was a finalist in ITV's The People's Author competition in 2009, and her enormously popular blog, which describes the trials and tribulations of juggling babies and books, was voted one of the UK's top hundred blogs.
Her debut novel is being published by Atlantic in April. "The Beauty Chorus" is about the women who flew Spitfires during WW2. See further information on Amazon.
Madocks, Rod NC 1966-71
Rod published his 6th and 7th books in June 2022. One of them, "See You In Valhalla", is a centenary tribute to a WW2 poet, Sidney Keyes, who was killed in Tunisia in 1943. The second one is "Muzungu: A Rhodesian Testament", a memoir of his strange and scary African childhood and subsequent schooling in England as a turbulent pupil at Blundell's!
In 2015, Rod published a novel called 'Babbicam'. 
It is a historical mystery novel that explores the classic enigma of the case of John 'Babbacombe' Lee, a Devon man who was the only person in modern times to survive capital punishment and who became "The Man They Could Not Hang". Interestingly, one of the real life characters in the story actually was an Old Blundellian. His name was Reginald Gwynne Templer, a Teignmouth solicitor who played a murky part in the strange story of John Lee.
Rod also published a memoir of a WW2 poet in 2015, called "The Rising Flame: Remembering Sidney Keyes". You can find these books and others on Rod's page at Amazon.
Nadolski, Andrew
"Boarding School - Blundell's 1986"
In 1986 Andrew Nadolski, then a young art student,
arrived at Blundell's to produce a photo documentary of life
in a typical boarding school. 
He spent two months
photographing many aspects of School life; pupils, teachers
and the army of support staff who keep Blundell's running
smoothly. Now, 30 years later, a book of the photographs is
being published. Featuring more than 100 images,
Boarding School - Blundell's 1986 is an affectionate look
back, capturing the essence of a school at the end of an
era before the years of modernisation and full co-education.
The images of a smoke-filled, male dominated common
room, study rooms complete with Samantha Fox posters
and rows of baths in the boarding houses are a marked
contrast to that of life at the school today.
The book also features an essay by recently retired Ali Deighton-Gibson who was one of the younger teachers then at the school. Copies are available for purchase from the school shop and by mail order from www.nadolski.com. (Published by Headon House; ISBN 978-0-9549244-2-3.)
For news of the book launch event held at Blundell's on Friday 4th November, please see the News page.
Rainey, Alec FH 1952-57
OB Alec Rainey has written an account of his life as a jackeroo and stockman in Australia's Northern Territory in the Sixties and Seventies.
Entitled "A Way Of Life", the book has now been published (ISBN no. 9781849630030) and is available at a price of £9.99 from most book stores.
Rice, Douglas Staff 1969-98
We think of R D Blackmore as the rather forbidding author of Lorna Doone; but this is something different. Looking back more than forty years, Blackmore remembers an occasion when he was Head Boy at Old Blundell's in 1842, and invited to spend a holiday weekend at Burlescombe vicarage. His verse reminiscence begins with an entertaining and rare glimpse of the Porter's Lodge in tuckshop mode. At the vicarage, the other guests are two lovely girls, and Blackmore falls in love with both of them. A warm and humorous side of Blackmore's personality is revealed by this touching tale, here reprinted after 125 years of obscurity.
Douglas has published biographies of Sir John Popham and of 'Renegado' John Were, the Civil War Colonel from Halberton, and edited Tiverton Castle, a play by H T Heathcote.
Buscombe is on sale at Tiverton Museum of Mid-Devon Life and at Liznojan Books, Gold Street, Tiverton. It is also available by post, price £7.00 including p&p. in UK only; please make cheques payable to D. Rice and send to Lower Hazel Books, 40 Tidcombe Lane, Tiverton, Devon EX16 4EQ.
Stone, Allegra née Etheridge, GH 1988-90
Allegra Stone, née Etheridge (GH 1988-90), has written two books to support the mental health of adults and children.
- Effective Metaphors for Hypnotherapy (2015)
- Effective Metaphors for Children: A Resource for Therapists Parents and Teachers (2017)
Each contains forty metaphors, which positively address a variety of universal goals such as: gaining self-confidence, accepting change and managing anger. The stories are tools to bring about emotional good health and resilience.
They are used in the therapeutic environment by hypnotherapists, counsellors and psychotherapists. The children's book is also used by teachers as a story for 'circle time' or by parents as a bed-time story to provoke a discussion e.g. about bullying or about developing social skills.
Thomas, Chris OH 1970-75
The British & Irish Lions the Official History
Rob Cole (OH 1970-75) & Chris Thomas (OH 1970-75) updating the previous work carried out by another OB Clem Thomas with their book titled: ‘The British & Irish Lions the Official History,’ covering all things Lion Rugby and how Blundellians have been involved over the years on these prestigious events.
www.visionsp.co.uk/official-histories/#lions-history
Van der Kiste, John W 1967-72
Although he has spent most of his working life in public and college libraries, John Van der Kiste is also the author of over fifty books, including historical and royal biography with particular emphasis on the nineteenth century, local history, true crime, popular music, plays and fiction. His most successful titles include ’Queen Victoria’s Children’, ‘Edward VII’s Children’, ‘The Romanovs 1818-1959’, ‘Kaiser Wilhelm II’, and ‘The Plymouth Book of Days’. Further information is available on Amazon. He has also contributed articles to and reviewed books and records for national and local publications, and is a contributor to 'Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'.
Whitefield, Andrew NC 1957-62
OB Andrew Whitefield, having retired as managing partner at Ashford’s in Bristol, has turned his hand to writing and his book entitled "Mr Hilhouse of Bristol" was launched at the Brunel Institute next to SS Great Britain on 12th December 2010. The book traces the life of James Martin Hilhouse, Bristol’s great shipbuilder and artist.
Andrew was Chairman of the OB Club during the quatercentenary celebrations in 2004 and has a longstanding record of service to Blundell’s.