Derek Raymond
| Full Name: |
Robert
William Arthur
Cook |
| Born: |
June 12, 1931
London, England, UK |
| Died: |
July 30, 1994
London, England, UK |
| Occupation: |
Writer |
| Nationality: |
British |
| Links: |
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Biography
Derek Raymond is the Pen Name for Robert Cook. He was an English crime writer, credited with being a founder of British noir.
In 1937, in anticipation of the Second World War, the family retreated to the countryside, to a house near their Kentish castle. In 1944, Cook went to Eton, which he later characterised as a "hotbed of buggery" and "an excellent preparation for vice of any kind". He dropped out at the age of 17. The son of a textile magnate, he spent much of his early career among criminals and was employed at various times as a pornographer, organiser of illegal gambling, money launderer, pig-slaughterer and mini-cab driver.
During his National Service, Cook attained the rank of corporal (latrines). After a brief period working for the family business, selling lingerie in a department store in Neath, Wales, he spent most of the 1950s leading the life of a Chelsea layabout which he describes in his first, semi-autobiographical, novel The Crust on its Uppers (1962), from 1957 on enjoying a long affair with Hazel Whittington the deserted wife of Victor Willing.
Works in the WWEnd Database
Non Series Works |
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Full Details
