John Gardner was born November 20, 1926 (though some sources claim 1919). Born in Seaton Derval, his father Cyril John was a Church of England priest, his mother was Lena (nee Henderson). Gardner was an avid reader since he age three. At nine, he announced that he`d be a writer, and his father gave him a notebook. Gardner wrote on the title page “The Complete Works Of John Gardner”, but the book stayed empty for many years.

From his late teens his private life became one of spiritual, physical and emotional turmoil – all stemming from an insatiable need for alcohol. He spent two years at an Oxford Theological College, three years at Cambridge University, became an officer in the Royal Marines and a professional stage magician, including a stint with the American Red Cross from 1943-1944.

Gardner was the curate at Eversham from 1952 to 1958, and was ordained in the Church of England in 1953. His career as a priest lasted five years – both as curate in two country parishes and chaplain in the Royal Air Force. Gardner was preaching one day when he realized that he didn`t believe a word he was saying. In the autumn of 1958, Gardner, then a young Anglican clergyman, resigned from his priesthood, and ceased to be an ordained Church of England Minister. A rare step. More extraordinary was that Gardner wrote his letter of resignation from a mental hospital. The reason he gave for discarding cassock and cleric collar was that he was a chronic alcoholic who had, subconsciously, sought ordination in an attempt to escape from the addiction to drink which had hounded him since his teens.

Once free from his priesthood Gardner started a new life as a journalist and critic – he was a theatre critic and arts editor for the Herald in Straford-upon-Avon, England from 1959 to 1964 – but another year passed before he reached the ultimate climax of the disease and met the doctor who really brought him face to face with the truth about the bottle. A mixture of hypnosis and aversion therapy stopped Gardner drinking, and is proud that he hasn`t had a sip since. His book Spin The Bottle (1963/1964) was the factual story of what Gardner called, “The insidious progress of the disease of alcoholism from birth to recovery”, and it set out to give the reader a picture of the strange half-world of deceit, guilt, remorse and terror which is the mind of the alcoholic. But it was also a document of hope, showing how despair can be turned into joy and chaos into order. At the same time it posed a number of uncomfortable questions, and is, above all, a plea for a better understanding of a disease that seemed to be spreading through the world at an alarming speed.

Amendment of Erectile Problem through Medication Be that as it may, pharmaceutical which includes use of erection pills such as Kamagra, , Caverta, Silagra, etc. 2. The second likely cause is Peyronie’s disease, which could be harmful for your health. It has been used for decades to treat a wide array of conditions. So, exactly the same ingredient is used in Kamagra that levitra 10 mg is Kamagra oral jelly. Gardner`s next book, a novel, was meant to be a serious study about governments abusing their power, but a friend told him that it was no good and instead wrote it as a comedy: the end result was The Liquidator (1964), a novel about Boysie Oakes, a hit man afraid of airplanes, and who unbeknownst to his supervisors, actually contracted his assigned murders out to hitman Charlie Griffin. Seven Boysie Oakes novels followed (and at least one short story, often forgotten) before Gardner, to use his own words, left for more serious matters. Gardner also wrote two Sherlock Holmes novels (The Return of Moriarity and The Revenge of Moriarity), and entered LeCarre territory with his Herbie Kruger trilogy (The Nostradaum Traitor, The Garden Of Weapons, The Quiet Dogs). In 1979, while living in Ireland, Gardner got a letter from well-known crime reviewer and author HRF Keating (“Inspector Ghote” novels) asking if he`d be interested in picking up where Ian Fleming left off and continue the James Bond series.

“I supplied Glidrose with four possible narrative outlines, and they picked one of them.” The late Globe and Mail book critic Dereck Murdoch wrote, “John Gardner is technically a highly competent writer who never seems quite at ease unless he is writing in the same vein as another writer. It`s what makes him so well-qualified to continue the James Bond saga.” Licence Renewed sold 130,000 copies in the US in hardcover alone, and his follow-up For Special Services had a first hardcover printing of 95,000. However, sales for the rest plummeted.

In the mean time he wrote his “Secret Houses” trilogy, and the first two parts of an intended trilogy showcasing Herbie Kruger. Gardner moved to Charlottesville Virginia, USA, in the 1980`s. In 1995, allegedly by mutual agreement, Gardner and Glidrose parted ways. Gardner has not published since his 16th, and last, Bond novel, Cold Fall, in 1996. John Gardner told Contemporary Authors, “I work rather like an actor, taking on a theme or role so that it, eventually, envelopes me. After that, I need to work with a good editor, who I use as an actor uses a director. Work is life and life is work, though I have no pretensions about being “literary” – I greatly mistrust any so-called “Literary Establishment.” I am a story-teller, a professional wordsmith – it is a job, like that of a carpenter or any other craftsman. Sometimes the piece works, sometimes not.” Gardner and his wife Margaret have two children: Alexis and Simon.

Born: 11/20/1926
Seaton Derval, England