Aileen Armitage
Aileen Armitage (pen names Ruth Fabian, Erica Lindley, Aileen Quigley) is a British writer and author of more than thirty-five historical novels. She is partially-sighted and legally blind. Early life and education. Armitage was born in Luton, Bedfordshire in 1930. She grew up in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, where her father's family have lived for about 400 years. The family house was in Lindley Moor near Huddersfield. Her grandfather owned a mill in this area. Armitage studied Modern Languages at Hull University and became a teacher, but due to failing eyesight she had to give up  teaching. In 1967, she took a creative writing class through night school, and began writing at night with a felt tip pen and had many magazine articles and short stories published before she turned to longer fiction. Later life and career. Armitage's first novel was accepted by a publisher, who asked her to write more. She has since been widely published in the UK and in the US. She has written under the names Ruth Fabian, Erica Lindley, Aileen Quigley and Aileen Armitage. In the UK, Armitage is a high Public Lending Right earner. Awards. In 1988, Armitage received  the Frink Woman of the Year Award. In November 2002 Armitage and her husband were awarded honorary Doctor of Literature degree by University of Huddersfield. International Emmy 1999, Nominated for a BAFTA, Winner of the Peabody Prize and Le Priz Crystale all for Lost For Words film, co-written with Deric Longden. Personal life. In 1954 Armitage married Peter Quigley, with whom she had four children. The marriage later ended in divorce. In the mid-1980s she met writer Deric Longden, who at that time was married to his first wife Diana, who was experiencing chronic fatigue syndrome or myalgic encephalomyelitis . She died in 1985. Armitage married Longden in 1990 and they moved to Huddersfield. This part of Armitage's life was included in Longden's 1989 novel "Diana's Story", later made into a TV film "Wide-Eyed and Legless" (1993). Armitage was played by Welsh actress Sian Thomas whilst Longden was played by Jim Broadbent. Longden's book "Lost For Words" (1991), which continued the story of his life with Aileen and his eccentric mother, was also made into a TV film, "Lost for Words" (1999), in which Penny Downie played Armitage and Pete Postlethwaite played Longden. Thora Hird  played Longden's mother Annie in both films. Longden died of cancer of the oesophagus on 23 June 2013.