| John Richard Newton Chance | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1911 Streatham Hill, London |
| Died | 3 August 1983 (aged 71–72) |
| Pen name | John Lymington, John Drummond, David C. Newton, Jonathan Chance |
| Occupation | Novelist, writer, RAF pilot and instructor, publican |
| Nationality | British |
| Genres | Mystery fiction, science fiction, children's literature |
| Notable work(s) | Night of the Big Heat |
John Lymington (1911–1983) was born John Richard Newton Chance in London. He was a prolific writer of short stories, children's literature, mystery and science fiction novels. An obituary in Ansible Link [1] credits Lymington with writing over 150 novels, 'including 20+ SF potboilers', adding that he 'made a steady income by delivering thrillers to Robert Hale (the publisher) at a chapter a week'.
Lymington's first book, Wheels in the Forest, was written in 1935. He also wrote Night of the Big Heat in 1959. Several of his short stories were collected in The Night Spiders in 1964. Pseudonyms used by Lymington throughout his career included John Drummond, David C. Newton, Desmond Reid (see 'Sexton Blake') and Jonathan Chance. Brian Stableford suggested in the Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction Literature (pp. 208) that the name Lymington was chosen 'in a blatant attempt to cash in' on John Wyndham's popularity.
Chance was educated in a private school in London, and subsequently attended a technical college with the intention of becoming a civil engineer, an ambition which he left behind to become a quantity surveyor. By the age of 21, he decided to give up this job and began to work full-time as a writer.
During his career with the RAF, which began in the summer of 1940, he became a flying instructor at South Cerney, Long Newnton and Bibury airfields [2] in the Cotswolds. The three airfields were administrated under the Cerney office. In this role, he applied previous experience of flying, from as early as 1928. In 1943 he met his wife-to-be, Shirley Savill, at the time serving as a section officer in the WAAF (Women's Auxiliary Air Force). They married on 22 July. In November of that year, Chance was given indefinite leave, and was invalided out with the permanent rank of Flight Lieutenant on 8 February 1944. He wrote about this time in his autobiography, Yellow Belly, published by Robert Hale in 1959.
After the war, he moved to Hampshire with his wife, where their three sons were born. The family moved to the Isle of Wight in 1956, to take up management of a pub.
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Whilst certain of his adult novels enjoyed wide success and translation, he is also fondly remembered for the 'Bunst' children's series, starring eccentric inventor Audacious Cotterell and his youthful sidekick, Bunst (a contraction of his nickname, Bunstuffer).
Certain bibliographies include only the latter four of these as 'Bunst' books; however, all six involve the same principal characters.
Writing as John Drummond, in The Thriller Library (Amalgamated Press), a "short-lived title from the mid-1930s, running only 24 issues between July 1934 and June 1935". [3]
As John Drummond, he wrote a number of additions to the Sexton Blake series: [4]. Note that 'Desmond Reid' appears to have been used as a catch-all pseudonym for this series, so it is possible that certain pieces credited to this name actually originated with him. This list includes only those pieces credited to John Drummond.
An incomplete list of these follows.
As John Newton Chance:
'Night of the Big Heat' was adapted twice. The first, a 1960 TV adaptation set on Salisbury Plain, was directed by Cyril Coke and adapted from the book by Giles Cooper. The second, Night of the Big Heat (1967 film), was a 94-minute UK feature film set on a remote Scottish island, directed by Terence Fisher and starring Christopher Lee, Patrick Allen and Peter Cushing.