Seymour, John 1914-

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SEYMOUR, John 1914-

PERSONAL: Original surname, Turbayne; surname changed to that of stepfather; born June 12, 1914, in England; son of Albert and Christine (an American; maiden name, Owens) Turbayne; married Sally Medworth (an artist and potter); children: Jane, Anne, Kate. Hobbies and other interests: Cruising in small open boats, travel, topography.

ADDRESSES: Home—Fachongle Isaf, Pembrokeshire, Wales. Agent—David Higham Associates Ltd., 5-8 Lower John St., London W1R 4HA, England.

CAREER: Worked as a farm manager in southwest Africa, skipper of a fishing vessel in southwestern Africa and South Africa, miner in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), and government livestock officer in Barotseland (now Zambia); operator of a small farm and freelance writer. Military service: British Army, King's African Rifles, 1940-46; served in Ethiopia and Burma.

WRITINGS:

The Hard Way to India, Eyre & Spottiswoode (London, England), 1951.

Round about India, Eyre & Spottiswoode (London, England), 1953, published as Around India, John Day (New York, NY), 1954.

One Man's Africa, Eyre & Spottiswoode (London, England), 1955, John Day (New York, NY), 1956.

Boys in the Bundu (juvenile), Harrap (London, England), 1955.

Sailing through England, Eyre & Spottiswoode (London, England), 1956.

The Fat of the Land, Faber (London, England), 1961, reprinted, 1974, Taplinger Publishing (New York, NY), 1962, published as The Fat of the Land: Family Farming on Five Acres, Schocken Books (New York, NY), 1975.

On My Own Terms, Faber (London, England), 1963, reprinted, 1980.

Willynilly to the Baltic, William Blackwood (Edinburgh, Scotland), 1965.

Companion Guide to East Anglia, William Collins (London, England), 1970, Scribner (New York, NY), 1975.

(With wife, Sally Seymour) Farming for Self-Sufficiency: Independence on a Five Acre Farm, illustrated by S. Seymour, Schocken Books (New York, NY), 1973, published as Self-Sufficiency: The Science and Art of Producing and Preserving Your Own Food, Faber (London, England), 1973.

Companion Guide to the Coast of North-East England, William Collins (London, England), 1974.

Companion Guide to the Coast of South-West England, William Collins (London, England), 1975.

The Guide to Self-Sufficiency, Popular Mechanic Books (New York, NY), 1976 published as The Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency, Faber (London, England), 1976, revised edition (with Will Sutherland) published as The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It: The Complete Back-to-Basics Guide, DK Publishing (New York, NY), 2003.

Bring Me My Bow, Turnstone (London, England), 1977.

The Countryside Explained, illustrated by Sally Seymour, Faber (London, England), 1977.

I'm a Stranger Here Myself: The Story of a Welsh Farm, Faber (London, England), 1978.

The Self-Sufficient Gardener, Faber (London, England), 1978, published as The Self-Sufficient Gardener: A Complete Guide to Growing and Preserving All Your Own Food, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1979.

Gardener's Delight, Harmony Books (New York, NY), 1979.

The Shepherd, illustrated by Sally Seymour, Sidgwick & Jackson (London, England), 1983.

The Lore of the Land, illustrated by Sally Seymour, Schocken Books (New York, NY), 1983.

The Smallholder, illustrated by Sally Seymour, Sidgwick & Jackson (London, England), 1983.

The Woodlander, illustrated by Sally Seymour, Sidgwick & Jackson (London, England), 1983.

The Forgotten Crafts, Knopf (New York, NY), 1984, revised edition included in Our Forgotten Arts and Crafts: Skills from Bygone Days, DK Publishing (New York, NY), 2001.

Forgotten Household Crafts, Knopf (New York, NY), 1987, revised edition included in Our Forgotten Arts and Crafts: Skills from Bygone Days, DK Publishing (New York, NY), 2001.

(With Herbert Girardet) Blueprint for a Green Planet: Your Practical Guide to Restoring the World's Environment, illustrated by Ian Penney, Prentice Hall (Englewood Cliffs, NJ), 1987.

Our Forgotten Arts and Crafts: Skills from Bygone Days (contains revised editions of The Forgotten Crafts and Forgotten Household Crafts), DK Publishing (New York, NY), 2001.

Also author of Getting It Together, published by Michael Joseph (London, England). Contributor to magazines.

Seymour's books have been translated into Norwegian, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Dutch, German, and Danish.