British Author. He is best remembered for his satirical "Wilt" series of novels, in which he admonishes popular English culture, as well as "Porterhouse Blue" (1974) and "Blott on the Landscape" (1975), which were both adapted for television. Born Thomas Ridley Sharpe, his father was a Unitarian minister. After receiving his education at Bloxham School at Oxfordshire, England and Lancing College in West Sussex, England, he joined the British Royal Marines during World War II. After completing his military duty he attended Pembroke College at Cambridge, England where he studied history and social anthropology. In 1951 he moved to South Africa and was employed as a social worker and teacher, before being arrested and ultimately deported for sedition in 1961. When he returned to England, he became a history teacher and lecturer at the Cambridge College of Arts and Technology, which inspired his "Wilt" series of novels. His experiences in South Africa contributed to his novels "Riotous Assembly" (1971) and "Indecent Exposure (1973)" which were critical of the apartheid regime at that time. His other literary works include "The Great Pursuit" (1977), "The Throwback" (1978), "Ancestral Vices" (1980), "Vintage Stuff" (1982), "Grantchester Grind' (1995), "The Midden" (1996), and "The Gropes" (2009). He died of complications from diabetes at the age of 85.
British Author. He is best remembered for his satirical "Wilt" series of novels, in which he admonishes popular English culture, as well as "Porterhouse Blue" (1974) and "Blott on the Landscape" (1975), which were both adapted for television. Born Thomas Ridley Sharpe, his father was a Unitarian minister. After receiving his education at Bloxham School at Oxfordshire, England and Lancing College in West Sussex, England, he joined the British Royal Marines during World War II. After completing his military duty he attended Pembroke College at Cambridge, England where he studied history and social anthropology. In 1951 he moved to South Africa and was employed as a social worker and teacher, before being arrested and ultimately deported for sedition in 1961. When he returned to England, he became a history teacher and lecturer at the Cambridge College of Arts and Technology, which inspired his "Wilt" series of novels. His experiences in South Africa contributed to his novels "Riotous Assembly" (1971) and "Indecent Exposure (1973)" which were critical of the apartheid regime at that time. His other literary works include "The Great Pursuit" (1977), "The Throwback" (1978), "Ancestral Vices" (1980), "Vintage Stuff" (1982), "Grantchester Grind' (1995), "The Midden" (1996), and "The Gropes" (2009). He died of complications from diabetes at the age of 85.
Bio by: William Bjornstad
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