Malcolm Saville

Leonard Malcolm Saville (21 February 1901–30 June 1982) was an English writer best known for the Lone Pine series of children's books, many of which are set in Shropshire.

His work emphasises location; the books include many vivid descriptions of English countryside, villages and sometimes towns.

He was born in Hastings, Sussex, and was educated at Richmond Hill School, in Richmond, Surrey.

His working life began at Oxford University Press in 1918, then continued as a publicist with Cassell & Co (1920–1922), Associated Press (1922–1936), and George Newnes Ltd (1936–1941).

His marriage to Dorothy (née McCoy) in 1926 produced four children.

Saville had strong moral convictions, and was a practising Christian.

Saville's writing career, from 1943 to 1982, was initially a diversion from his working life.

His first book, Mystery at Witchend, was set in Shropshire and was written when his children had been evacuated to the county from the family home in Hertfordshire.

It was adapted for BBC radio broadcast in 1943, and was followed by a further 19 children's books in the Lone Pine series, the last one published in 1978.

Several of his 90 books were serialised for broadcast on radio, many on Children's Hour, and his 1953 book The Ambermere Treasure, part of the Jillies series, was serialised by Associated-Rediffusion, the first commercial television company to broadcast in the United Kingdom, in late 1955 and early 1956; it was therefore one of the first ITV children's drama series.

Saville also wrote many short stories and magazine articles.

He was also the associate editor of My Garden magazine, before taking over editorship of Sunny Stories from Enid Blyton in 1954, when she left to set up her own magazine in direct competition.

Some of the earlier titles were reissued in revised editions in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Some of the books were translated into Dutch.

Saville also edited Words For All Seasons, a poetry anthology first published in 1979.

He died in Hastings in 1982, aged 81.

All dates in the list below refer to the first date of publication.

Another book by Mark O'Hanlon called The Complete Lone Pine – a guide to the entire series – was published in 1996 and was reprinted in an extended hardback edition in 2005.

He began a book on the Shropshire countryside he loved, The Silent Hills of Shropshire, but died before he could finish it; it was completed by Mark O'Hanlon and published in 1998.

Mark O'Hanlon's biography of Saville, Beyond the Lone Pine which was published to coincide with the centenary of Saville's birth in 2001, is also now out of print.