Kathleen Wendy Herald PeytonMBE (2 August 1929 – 19 December 2023), who wrote primarily as K. M. Peyton, was a British author of fiction for children and young adults.
Kathleen Wendy Herald Peyton was born on 2 August 1929 in Birmingham, England.[4] She began writing when she was nine and was first published when she was fifteen. She has stated she "never decided to become a writer ... [she] just was one."[5] Growing up in London where she could not have a horse, she was obsessed with them: all her early books are about girls who have ponies.[6]
Later, she attended Kingston Art School, and then Manchester Art School. There she met another student, Mike Peyton, an ex-serviceman who had been a military artist and prisoner of war. He shared her love of walking in the Pennines.[7] They married in 1950[4] and travelled around Europe. When they returned to Britain, Peyton completed a teaching diploma. Ultimately, Peyton had two daughters: Hilary and Veronica.[4]
Peyton died on 19 December 2023, at the age of 94.[8]
Career
Peyton's personal interests often guided her writing. Her earliest writing was inspired by her love of horses.
Later,[when?] Peyton wrote mostly boys' adventure stories that she sold as serials to The Scout, magazine of The Scout Association, and later published in full.[9] She began writing as 'K. M. Peyton' at this time; 'M' represented her husband Mike who helped create the plots.[9]
Further, because the Peytons enjoyed sailing, many of her books covered the subject for a while,[when?] though she eventually returned to her first subject of interest: horses. This writing became the Flambards series.[10] When Peyton became involved with horse racing, she used those experiences as further inspiration for writing.[citation needed]Flambards was published in Italian, German, Finnish, and Swedish-language editions during the 1970s. WorldCat lists eight other languages of publication for her works in all.[11]
Writers who cite K M Peyton as an influence include Linda Newbery, whose young adult novel The Damage Done (2001, Scholastic) is dedicated "to Kathleen Peyton, who made me want to try."[12]
Honours and awards
Peyton won the Guardian Prize for the Flambards trilogy, and won the Carnegie Medal for its second book.[a] She was also a commended runner-up for the Carnegie Medal six times in eight years during the 1960s: one of the books was the first Flambards book, another was the third Flambards book in competition with the Medal-winning second; the others were Windfall (1962), The Maplin Bird (1964), The Plan for Birdmarsh (1965), and Thunder in the Sky (1966).[3][13][b]
The Right-Hand Man (1977), a historical novel featuring an English stagecoach driver, was adapted as a feature film shot in Australia in 1985 and released there in 1987.
Who, Sir? Me, Sir? (1985) was adapted as a BBC TV series.[15]
Works
The bibliography of Peyton's "pony books only" by Jane Badger Books includes all nineteen series books and many "other books" (‡) listed here.[16]
§ By age fifteen, Kathleen Herald had written "about ten more" novels that publishers rejected with "very nice letters".[7]
‡ Jane Badger Books lists these titles among Peyton's "pony books only" – as well as all nineteen series books listed above.[16]
Notes
^ abThe Guardian Prize is a once-in-a-lifetime award; previous winners are ineligible. Ordinarily it recognises one fiction book published during the preceding calendar year; exceptionally Peyton won for the Flambards trilogy completed in 1969.[2][3] For that publication year, the trilogy's second book won the Carnegie Medal and its third book was a commended runner-up.[1][13]Six authors not quite including Peyton have won the Carnegie Medal for their Guardian Prize-winning books.
^Today there are usually eight books on the Carnegie shortlist.
According to CCSU, some runners up through 2002 were Commended (from 1954) or Highly Commended (from 1966); the Highly Commended distinction became approximately annual in 1979. There were about 160 commendations of both kinds in 49 years including six for 1962, four 1964, six 1965, four 1966 (one highly commended), four 1967, and three 1969.
References
^ ab(Carnegie Winner 1969). Living Archive: Celebrating the Carnegie and Greenaway Winners. CILIP. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
^ ab"Peyton K M". Jan Pye. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. April 2003. Retrieved 2013-06-07.
For LIS 304, Library Materials for Young Adults. Includes a "List of all K.M. Peyton's Young Adult Books", brief biography, secondary bibliography, and capsules of some books.
^ abc"K M Peyton (1929 – )"Archived 24 February 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Pony Books. Jane Badger Books. Retrieved 10 August 2012. Includes "K M Peyton Bibliography: pony books only" illustrated by thumbnail cover images of many editions.
