Photo: David Shankbone (2009) CC BY 3.0
Sample of authors
Vidal, Gore
The American novelist and essayist Gore Vidal was born at West Point, New York. He was originally christened Eugene Vidal, but in his teens he changed his first name to his maternal grandfather’s surname. Gore Vidal was the only child of the pilot Eugene Luther Vidal and his wife, Nina S. Gore, an actress. He was not close to either. His parents were divorced when Vidal was ten, and although he m...
Photo: Geoffrey Swaine / REX/TT (2009)
Sample of authors
Lovesey, Peter
Peter Lovesey is a British author of detective stories. He was born in Whitton, Middlesex, to Richard Lear, a bank clerk, and his wife Amy Lovesey. He was given his mother’s surname, but he used his father’s name for the pen name Peter Lear. Peter Lovesey attended the University of Reading 1955–58, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in English. He then did his national service in the RAF and serve...