Norman Hunter (author)

Norman George Lorimer Hunter (1899-1995) was a British children's author, best known for his novels' character Professor Branestawm.

Early life

Hunter was born born in Sydenham, England, on 23 November, 1899.

Career

Hunter wrote popular books on writing for advertising, brain-teasers and conjuring among many others. His career started as an advertising copywriter and in the 1930s Hunter was performing as a stage magician in Bournemouth.

It was at this time he started to write the Professor Branestawm series, originally intended for radio. The books were published in hardback, with the first illustrated by W. Heath Robinson. Other illustrators were to follow, including James Arnold, George Worsley Adamson, Gerald Rose, David Hughes, Jill McDonald and Derek Cousins. In the 1960s the books were reprinted in Puffin Books, the Penguin children's imprint.

Hunter returned to London during the Second World War, living on a boat on the Thames. Post-war, in 1949 he went to work in South Africa and the fiction writing ceased. On his retirement in 1970, he once again returned to London where Thames television had just produced the Professor Branestawm eight-part TV series. He continued writing in his retirement with his last book published in 1983.

Death

Hunter died in Staines, 23 February 1995, aged 95. ^[1]

Works

(Incomplete):

• Simplified Conjuring for All : a collection of new tricks needing no special skill or apparatus for their performance with suitable patter, C. Arthur Pearson (1923)
• Advertising Through the Press: a guide to press publicity, Sir I. Pitman & Sons (1925)
• New and Easy Magic : a further series of novel magical experiments needing no special skill or apparatus for their performance with suitable patter, C. Arthur Pearson (1925)
• The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawm, John Lane (1933)
• New conjuring Without Skill, Bodley Head (1935)
• Professor Branestawm's Treasure Hunt, John Lane (1937)
• Larky Legends (1938), republished as The Dribblesome Teapots and Other Incredible Stories (1973)
• Successful Conjuring for Amateurs, Pearson (c.1951)
• The Puffin Book of Magic (1968), republished as Norman Hunter’s Book of Magic, Bodley Head (1974)
• The Peculiar Triumph of Professor Branestawm, Bodley Head (1970)
• The Dribblesome Teapots and Other Incredible Stories (1971)
• Professor Branestawm Up the Pole, Bodley Head (1972)
• Professor Branestawm's Dictionary, Bodley Head (1973)
• The Frantic Phantom and Other Incredible Stories (1973)
• Professor Branestawm's Great Revolution, Bodley Head (1974)
• The Home-made Dragon and Other Incredible Stories (1974)
• Dust up at the Royal Disco: and Other Stories (1975)
• Professor Branestawm’s Do-It-Yourself Handbook, Bodley Head (1974)
• Long Live Their Majesties (1975)
• Professor Branestawm Round the Bend, Bodley Head (1977)
• Professor Branestawm’s Compendium of Donundrums, Riddles, Puzzles, Brain Twiddlers and Dotty Descriptions, Bodley Head (1975)
• Vanishing Ladies, and Other Magic, Bodley Head (1978)
• Professor Branestawm's Perilous Pudding, Bodley Head (1979)
• The Best of Branestawm, Bodley Head (1980)
• Sneeze and Be Slain and Other Incredible Stories (1980)
• Professor Branestawm and the Wild Letters, Bodley Head (1981)
• Professor Branestawm's Pocket Motor Car, Bodley Head (1981)
• Professor Branestawm's Mouse War, Bodley Head (1982)
• Professor Branestawm's Building Bust-Up, Bodley Head (1982)
• Count Bakwerdz on the Carpet and Other Incredible Stories (1982)
• Professor Branestawm's Crunchy Crockery, Bodley Head (1983)
• Professor Branestawm's Hair-Raising Idea, Bodley Head (1983)

References

1. ^ Obituary at: The Independent, no.n2609, 1995 Feb 28, p12(1) (ISSN: 0951-9467)

External; links

• BBC-H2G2 [1]
• Books at Random [2]
• Norman Hunter at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

Persondata
Name	Hunter, Norman
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	23 November 1899
Place of birth
Date of death	23 February 1995
Place of death