Wright, John L. 1937–

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Wright, John L. 1937–

(James Macphearson)

PERSONAL: Born September 26, 1937, in London, England; son of Lawrence (an architect and writer) and Marie Wright; married Maria Teresa Siciliano (a teacher and writer), April 27, 1963; children: Paul, Amina, Primavera. Education: Attended London School of Oriental and African Studies, London, 1993–98. Religion: Roman Catholic.

ADDRESSES: Home—Richmond, Surrey, England.

CAREER: Sunday Ghibli, Tripoli, Libya, news editor, 1965–67; Esso Petroleum Co. Ltd., London, England, writer, 1968; Central Office of Information, London, government information officer, 1968–73; Petroleum Economist, London, staff writer, 1973–76; British Broadcasting Corp., London, radio broadcaster on Middle East, North African, and oil-related affairs, 1977–96.

MEMBER: Society for Libyan Studies.

WRITINGS:

Libya, Praeger Publishers (New York, NY), 1969, revised edition published as Libya: A Modern History, Johns Hopkins University Press (Baltimore, MD), 1982.

(Coauthor) Richmond, Surrey, as It Was, Hendon (Nelson, Lancashire, England), 1976.

(Coauthor) Our Libya, Dar Al-Atrash (Libya), 1978.

(Coauthor) The Social and Economic Development of Libya, Middle East and North African Studies Press (England), 1982.

Libya, Chad and the Central Sahara, Barnes and Noble (Totowa, NJ), 1989.

(Editor, with J. Bruce-Lockhart) Difficult and Dangerous Roads: Hugh Clapperton's Travels in Sahara and Fezzan, 1822–1825, Sickle Moon (London, England), 2000.

Travellers in Libya, Silphium Press (London, England), 2005.

The Trans-Saharan Slave Trade, Routledge-Curzon (Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England), 2007.

Contributor to professional journals.

SIDELIGHTS: John L. Wright once told CA: "My objective is always to give a simple, straightforward account and explanation of historical and contemporary affairs for a general audience. I want to open up previously neglected fields, to cast new light, and to try to correct ingrained prejudices in interpretation."