Ronald Hardy
Ronald Harold Hardy (16 November 1919 – October 1991) was an English novelist and screenwriter. His first novel "The Place of Jackals" was published in 1954 to acclaim. Hardy drew on his experiences as a liaison officer in Indochina during World War II in the writing of this novel. A review in "Time" magazine claimed that the novel ""establishes him as Graham Greene's No. 1 disciple."" Hardy won the 1962 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his fifth novel "Act of Destruction". Besides his nine works of fiction, he wrote one non-fiction book about the construction of  the Uganda Railway entitled "The Iron Snake". Hardy was also a TV screenwriter, with "Suspense" and "Armchair Theatre" among his credits. He qualified as a Certified Public Accountant before turning to writing. He married Betty Beattie and they had a son called David. After their marriage ended he married Joyce Cook and had two children, Christopher and Christine.