Royston Ellis

Writer Royston Ellis was born Christopher Royston George Ellis in Pinner, Engand, on Feb. 10, 1941. He left school at age 16 to become a writer, and published his first book, "Jiving to Gyp"--a collection of poems--two years later. The book was a success and Ellis performed readings from it on stage and a variety of TV shows, often backed by such rock acts as Cliff Richard and The Shadows. Jimmy Page and The Beatles (it was Ellis who suggested they spell their name that way instead of "The Beetles", which is what they were going to do). In 1960 he caused a stir with his remarks on a TV talk show about what life was like for modern teenagers in England. At 20 years of age he departed England to become a travel writer, and caused another stir by reading his poetry on stage in Moscow with dissident Russian poet Evgeniy Evtushenko. He later went to the Canary Islands, where he appeared in the movie Swingers' Paradise (1964) with Cliff Richard and turned out three novels. He settled on the Caribbean island of Dominica in 1966 and stayed there until 1980. While living there he wrote a series of successful "Bondmaster" historical novels under the name Richard Tresillian. In 1980 he relocated to Sri Lanka. In 2003 he was appointed as Warden (honorary consul) to southern Sri Lanka by the British High Commission. He has published more than 60 books--including novels, biographies and poetry--and in addition writes for local and international travel magazines.