{{Short description|English author}} {{Distinguish|text=the Palaeontologist, Euan Clarkson}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2016}} {{Use British English|date=November 2016}} '''Ewan Clarkson''' (23 January 1929 – 19 April 2010) was an English author specialising in books about nature, particularly wild animals.
==Life and career==
Clarkson was born in Workington on 23 January 1929.<ref name=wwa>''International Who's Who of Authors and Writers 2004'', Routledge, 2003, p.105. {{ISBN|978-1-85743-179-7}}</ref><ref name=lewis>Lewis, N. (1978) "Ewan Clarkson" in ''Twentieth Century Children's Writers'', Macmillan, pp. 270-1</ref> He was educated at Altrincham Grammar School and served in the Royal Army Medical Corps between 1947 and 1949.<ref name=lewis/>
Clarkson, who before becoming a full-time writer 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".<ref name=commire37>Commire, A. ''Something about the author'', v.9, Gale Research, 1976, 37</ref> Before the publication of his first book he also worked as a beach photographer, rabbit farmer, and as a lorry driver for the Ministry of Defence at Denbury Camp, Newton Abbot.<ref name=lewis/> 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. He was an early critic of the use of pesticides and several of his works explore the negative effects on the environment of intensive farming methods.<ref name=lewis/>
Clarkson's books often appeared on both adults' and children's lists, and he stated that education was one of the main purposes of his writing.<ref name=lewis/> 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.<ref name=utfa>[http://www.upper-teign-fishing.org.uk/ufta_news.htm Ewan Clarkson 1929-2010] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110918053941/http://www.upper-teign-fishing.org.uk/ufta_news.htm |date=18 September 2011 }}, Upper Teign Fishing Association</ref>
==Personal life==
Clarkson married in 1951 and had two children.<ref name=lewis/>
==Selected bibliography== * Break for Freedom (1968) (U.S.A. Title: Syla, the Mink) * Halic: The Story of a Gray Seal (1970) * The Running of the Deer (1972) * In The Shadow Of The Falcon (1973) * Wolf Country: A Wilderness Pilgrimage (1975) * The Badgers of Summercombe (1977) * Many-forked Branch (1980) * The Wake of the Storm (1983) * Ice Trek (1986) * King of the Wild (1990) * The Flight of the Osprey (1996)
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Portal |Children's literature}}
{{Authority control}}
==External links== *[https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-chudleigh-conservationist-1971-online Chudleigh Conservationist], a 1971 film featuring Clarkson, at the British Film Institute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarkson, Ewan}} Category:English children's writers Category:British nature writers Category:1929 births Category:2010 deaths Category:Alumni of the University of Exeter Category:English male novelists Category:20th-century English novelists Category:20th-century English male writers Category:People educated at Altrincham Grammar School for Boys Category:People from Workington Category:Military personnel from Cumbria Category:Royal Army Medical Corps soldiers Category:20th-century British Army personnel