Name Ewan Clarkson Role Author | Died 2010 | |
Books Break for Freedom: The Story of a Mink | ||
Ewan Clarkson (1929–2010) was an English author specialising in books about nature, particularly wild animals.
Born on 23 January 1929, Clarkson, who before writing worked as a veterinary surgeon, was later to state that "for twenty-five years I laboured under the illusion that I was a scientist. I worked as a laboratory assistant after school to study for my Bachelor of Science. Then I was a veterinarian for the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals. When I realised that I became too emotionally involved with my charges [...] I rebelled against the objective, unemotional approach of the scientist and went to Devon where I could write".
His first book was Break for Freedom, also published in the United States as Syla, the Mink(1968), telling the story of a mink escaping from a fur farm in Devon, and showing the influence of Henry Williamson's stories about Devon wildlife. Clarkson gave a particular focus to the impact of man's activities on nature, a theme he developed in subsequent works, following Break for Freedom with Halic, the Story of a Grey Seal in 1970, and a number of other novels and non-fiction wildlife books. Clarkson also wrote several books on animals aimed specifically at younger children, as well as many magazine articles about angling: an accomplished fisherman, he was regarded as a pioneer of saltwater fly fishing techniques.
Clarkson, who lived in Newton Abbot, died on 19 April 2010.