Ian Serraillier

Background

Serraillier was born in London on 24 September 1912. His father died as a result of the 1918 flu pandemic.

Education

Serraillier was educated at Brighton College and at Street Edmund Hall, Oxford, and he taught English at Wycliffe College in Gloucestershire from 1936 to 1939, at Dudley Grammar School in Worcestershire from 1939 to 1946, and at Midhurst Grammar School in West Sussex from 1946 to 1961.

Career

He was the eldest of the four children of Lucien Serraillier (1886–1919) and Mary Kirkland Rodger (1883–1940). As a Quaker he was granted conscientious objector status in World World War World War II

lieutenant was followed by several more adventure stories, including They Raced Foreign Treasure (a story of treasure and spies). His best known work, The Silver Sword, was published in 1956.

The four join together in their search for the siblings" parents in the chaos of Europe, immediately after the Second World War.

In the United States the book was published under the title Escape from Warsaw. Beginning in 1961, he devoted most of his time to writing fiction and non-fiction, poems, and educational programs for television

He also produced his own retellings of classic and ancient legends for children, in prose and verse, including Beowulf, works by Chaucer, English folklore, and Greek and Roman myths. He continued as co-editor of the series until the onset of Alzheimer"s disease in the early 1990s.

Serraillier contracted Alzheimer"s disease in the early 1990s, which contributed to his death at the age of 82.

The "", held at the University of Reading, largely comprise manuscripts, typescripts, and galley proofs, including Fight for Freedom, The Clashing Rocks, The Cave of, Havelock the Dane, They Raced for Treasure, Flight to Adventure, and The Silver Sword. They also contain correspondence with publishers. Other business and literary correspondence.

Notebooks with poems, ideas, and story outlines.

Rejection letters; publishers" agreements. Press cuttings; research material.

Lecture notes and typescripts. Obituaries, and other miscellaneous papers.

Achievements

• The Ivory Horn, his retelling of the Roland legend, was a runner-up for the Carnegie Medal (as was The Silver Sword).

Membership

Serraillier was a member of the Peace Pledge Union. As a popular children"s author, Serraillier was invited to Children"s Literature Summer Camps for members of the Puffin Book Club, run by Colony Holidays (predecessor to Association of Technical Employees Superweeks) along with other popular children"s authors such as Joan Aiken and Clive King.