Guide to the John Gardner Papers
Processed by D. Tambo and T. Lewis
Department of Special Collections
© 2003
Davidson Library
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106
Phone: (805) 893-3062
Fax: (805) 893-5749
Email: special@library.ucsb.edu
URL: http://www.library.ucsb.edu/speccoll/speccoll.html
Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Guide to the John Gardner Papers, 1960s
Collection number: Mss 30
Department of Special Collections, Davidson Library, University of California, Santa Barbara- Department of Special Collections
- Davidson Library
- University of California, Santa Barbara
- Santa Barbara, CA 93106
- Phone: (805) 893-3062
- Fax: (805) 893-5749
- Email: special@library.ucsb.edu
- URL: http://www.library.ucsb.edu/speccoll/speccoll.html
- Processed by:
- D. Tambo and T. Lewis
- Date Completed:
- 12 February 2003
- Encoded by:
- David C. Gartrell
© 2003 Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Title: John Gardner Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1960s
Collection Number: Mss 30
Creator:
Gardner, John E.
Extent:
.4 linear feet
(1 document box)
Repository:
University of California, Santa Barbara. Library. Department of Special Collections
Santa Barbara, California 93106-9010
Physical Location: Del Sur
Language:
English.
None.
Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish or
quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given
on behalf of the Department of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply
permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.
John Gardner Papers. Mss 30. Department of Special Collections, Davidson Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Undetermined.
John Edmund Gardner was born in Northumberland, England on November 20, 1926. He expressed a desire to be a writer at the
age of eight, but his life would follow a circuitous path before he finally settled into that profession. A teenager during
World War II, Gardner joined the Home Guard as a drummer boy. While waiting to come of age, he auditioned for the American
Red Cross Entertainments Department and visited numerous military hospitals as a magician. Finally turning 18 at the end of
1944, he was able to join the Royal Navy. After a few months he was transferred to a Royal Marines commando unit and served
in Asia and the Middle East.
During the war, Gardner became an alcoholic. His addiction grew while he attended Cambridge University and then Oxford, where
he received a degree in theology. He followed his father in becoming an Anglican priest, and, after marrying his wife Margaret,
became the minister to a rural parish. After a few restless years, however, Gardner realized that he had become a priest solely
in an attempt to escape from his chronic alcoholism. He resigned from the Church and renounced religion entirely.
Gardner drifted into a job as drama critic for the local newspaper in Stratford-upon-Avon, just as the Royal Shakespeare Company
was undergoing a major reorganization. He had finally realized his ambition to become a writer, but he was soon forced to
face his debilitating addiction to alcohol. In 1959, he came under the care of Dr. Lincoln Williams, who had pioneered the
use of hypnosis in treating alcoholics. Gardner's struggle to overcome his addiction resulted in his first book,
Spin the Bottle, which was published in 1964. A harrowing account of the mind of an alcoholic, the book was a success, and it inspired Gardner
to try writing a novel.
The first draft of Gardner's novel, a pretentious indictment of governmental abuse of power, was a disaster, and his editor
suggested he try treating the theme as a comedy. Gardner rewrote the story, creating the character of bumbling secret agent
and squeamish assassin Boysie Oakes. Hitting at the height of the spy craze in the mid-1960s, the book, entitled
The Liquidator, was a hit. The sequel,
Understrike (1965), scored again, and was followed by six more Boysie Oakes adventures, including
Traitor's Exit (1970). Rod Taylor portrayed Boysie Oakes in the forgettable film version of
The Liquidator (1965), directed by Jack Cardiff.
Gardner proved to be a prolific author, branching out into thrillers and adventure stories, including two popular Sherlock
Holmes novels that focused on the detective's nemesis, Professor Moriarty. He also developed the character of police inspector
Derek Torry, who appeared in two police procedurals,
A Complete State of Death (1969) and
The Corner Men (1974). Translated to the LAPD, Torry was brought to the screen by Charles Bronson in the 1973 flop
The Stone Killer, directed by Michael Winner.
Then, in 1980, John Gardner was offered the James Bond franchise by the publishing firm Glidrose, which owned Ian Fleming's
literary estate. His first attempt,
Licence Renewed (1981), was successful, and he would go on to write fourteen Bond novels before giving it up in 1996. After a six-year bout
with cancer, Gardner resumed writing, producing the spy thriller
Day of Absolution (2000) and the detective novel
Bottled Spider (2002). A widower and father of two, he lives in Basingstoke, England.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection contains a typescript draft and printer's proof of John Gardner's autobiographical
Spin the Bottle (London: Frederick Muller, 1964), as well as typescript drafts and other material relating to his Boysie Oakes stories
Understrike and
Traitor's Exit, and introductory material for a proposed series featuring detective Derek Torry.
Box 1: 1
Derek Torry prospectus, 1967
Box 1: 2 - 6
Spin the Bottle (typescript with corrections, and printer's proof), ca. early 1960s
Box 1: 7 - 8
Understrike (typescript with corrections, and sketches of cover design), ca. 1964 [published 1965]
Box 1: 9
Traitor's Exit (typescript with corrections), ca. 1969 [published 1970]