SNAILHAM, Richard 1930–

(George Richard Snailham)

PERSONAL:

Surname is accented on first syllable; born May 18, 1930, in Clitheroe, Lancashire, England; son of William Rushton (a cotton agent) and Mabel Snailham; married Christina March, January 19, 1990. Education: Keble College, Oxford, B.A. (with second class honors), 1953. Politics: Conservative. Religion: Church of England. Hobbies and other interests: Exploration (including expeditions to Ethiopia, Zaire, Jamaica, Ecuador, and elsewhere).

ADDRESSES:

Home—Windsor, Berkshire, England.

CAREER:

Schoolmaster at a preparatory school in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, England, 1954-55, and a school in Iwerne Minster, Dorset, England, 1955-57; history teacher and department head at a school in Exeter, Devon, England, 1957-65; Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, Camberley, Surrey, England, senior lecturer in political and social studies, 1965-90; Operation Raleigh, London, England, writer, 1990-92; writer and public speaker on travel and expeditions, 1993—. Leader of tour groups and study tours for Voyages Jules Verne, ACE Study Tours, and others; Winston Churchill Fellowship, chair for Surrey and West Sussex, 1984-91; Young Explorers Trust, secretary, 1986-90. Military service: British Army, Intelligence Corps, Duke of Wellington's Regiment, 1948-50.

MEMBER:

Royal Geographical Society (fellow), Scientific Exploration Society (founding member, 1969; past member of council; honorary vice president), Historical Association, Anglo-Ethiopian Society (chair, 1999-2006), Globetrotters Club (president, 1977-90), Mastermind Club, Constitutional Club (Windsor, England).

AWARDS, HONORS:

Fellowship from Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, 1971; Mrs. Patrick Ness Award, Royal Geographic Society, 1980.

WRITINGS:

The Blue Nile Revealed, Chatto & Windus (London, England), 1970.

(With John N. Blashford-Snell) The Expedition Organiser's Guide, Daily Telegraph (London, England), 1970, revised edition, 1978.

A Giant among Rivers, Hutchinson (London, England), 1976.

Sangay Survived, Hutchinson (London, England), 1978.

Normandy and Brittany, Weidenfeld & Nicolson (London, England), 1986.

(With John N. Blashford-Snell) Kota Mama: Retracing the Lost Trade Routes of Ancient South American Peoples, Headline (London, England), 2000.

(With John N. Blashford-Snell) East to the Amazon: In Search of Great Paititi and the Trade Routes of the Ancients, John Murray (London, England), 2003.

Contributor to Times Educational Supplement, Geographical, Expedition, and Yachting Monthly.

SIDELIGHTS:

When asked about his writing, Richard Snailham told CA: "Travelling to remote parts of Africa in 1966, 1968, 1972, 1974-5 led to writing articles and then books on Ethiopia, Zaire, etc. My work is influenced by Patrick Leigh Fermor, Eric Newby and travel writers of that sort. I write longhand on scrap paper, with massive alteration, type on scrap paper, then more alteration. I type the final copy (no computer yet, no laptop or printer). The most surprising thing I've learned is how difficult it is to coauthor a book (I've done it three times). My favorite of my books is Sangay Survived because I nearly got killed by an erupting volcano and it's an exciting story."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

periodicals

Geographical Journal, November, 1980, review of Sangay Survived, p. 447.

Times Literary Supplement, November 22, 2002, John Ure, review of East to the Amazon: In Search of Great Paititi and the Trade Routes of the Ancients, p. 31.