PILKINGTON, Roger (Windle) 1915-2003

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born January 17, 1915, in St. Helens, Lancashire, England; died May 5, 2003, in London, England. Author. Pilkington is best remembered for his books about boating, including the nonfiction "Small Boat" series and his mystery stories for children that are often set on boats. Originally trained as a scientist, he earned a doctorate in 1942 from Magdalene College and then worked as a geneticist for eight years at Cambridge University. After World War II he worked for two years as director of studies at the Pendley Adult Education Center before becoming a freelance writer. Several of his early works are science books—sometimes tied in with religion—for the general reader and include Males and Females (1948), Biology, Man, and God (1951), Revelation through Science (1954), and Robert Boyle, Father of Chemistry (1959). He soon turned his love of boating into the popular "Small Boat" series, which included well over a dozen books. In such books as Small Boat in the Midi (1983) and Small Boat down the Years (1987) Pilkington relates his experiences traveling the world on his boat. His children's and grandchildren's love of boating inspired him to write children's stories in which the characters are involved in various mysteries and other adventures while they travel by boat. These include Jan's Treasure (1955), The Ways of the Sea (1957), The Eisenbart Mystery (1963), and The Boy from Stink Alley (1965; published in the United States as I Sailed on the Mayflower). Some of Pilkington's more recent books include One Foot in France (1992), View from the Shore (1995), and History and Legends of the European Waterways (1998).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

BOOKS

Writers Directory, 18th edition, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 2003.

PERIODICALS

Los Angeles Times, May 27, 2003, p. B11.

New York Times, May 24, 2003, p. A30.

Times (London, England), May 22, 2003.