Lucy Irvine

Lucy Irvine (born 1 February 1956) is a British adventurer and author. Born in Whitton, London, after a tumultuous and free spirited adolescence, in which she replaced formal education with travel and adventure, she joined forces with writer Gerald Kingsland and, as an experiment in isolation, became self imposed castaways for a year on the isolated island of Tuin, in the Torres Strait between New Guinea and Australia. On her return in 1983, she had her experiences published in the book "Castaway ", which was later used as the basis for the 1986 film of the same name.

Prior to writing "Castaway", she had been employed as a charlady, monkey keeper, waitress, stone mason's mate, life model, pastry cook, and concierge. She had first run away from school at twelve and had no full-time schooling after her thirteenth birthday.

Due to the interest raised by her first book and to coincide with the release of the film, she wrote about her life before "Castaway" in the book "Runaway".

In 1999 she was invited to write a biography of Tom and Diana Hepworth, British ex-pats, who in 1947 set sail from England and embarked upon a hazardous journey in search of a faraway paradise where they could raise a family. They settled on Pigeon Island in the Solomons, running a trading business. Irvine accepted the invitation, taking her three sons for a year and immersed herself once again in island life. "Faraway" was the fruition of that experience.

In 2007 Irvine, accompanied by her youngest son, Benji, moved from Tanera M%C3%B2r one of the Summer Isles in Scotland to Yambol, Bulgaria, from where she writes a blog that is published on the Saga magazine website.

She has three sons.

References

*cite book
last=Irvine |first=Lucy
title=Castaway
publisher=Victor Gollancz
location=London
year=1983
isbn=0-575-03340-1
oclc=11371743 3452267

*cite book
last=Irvine |first=Lucy
title=Runaway
publisher=Random House
location=New York
year=1987
isbn=0-394-54510-9
oclc=14002098

*cite book
last=Irvine |first=Lucy
title=Faraway
publisher=Doubleday
location=London
year=2000
isbn=0-385-60180-8
oclc=44915500

External links

*cite web
url=http://www.lucyirvine.com
title=Lucy Irvine's website
accessdate=2007-05-15
*cite web
url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/listenagain/ram/today5_lost_20050811.ram
title=BBC Radio 4 Today interview with Lucy Irvine
format=RealAudio
accessdate=2007-05-15
*cite web
url=http://www.saga.co.uk/magazine/Balkan-Castaway/
publisher = Saga
title=Balkan Castaway