Russell Hoban

Russell Hoban (1925-2011), the unofficial Pennsylvanian ambassador to London, was known to children and parents for a huge range of children's books (the Frances the Badger series, Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas, How Tom Beat Captain Najork and His Hired Sportsmen, The Mouse and His Child, etc.) and is best known otherwise for the post-apocalyptic fantasy Riddley Walker but wrote a whole lot of things. I was very privileged to know him slightly in his later years.

Notes are here for these books:

• Turtle Diary
• Riddley Walker (a larger annotation project of its own)

Other reading

• Wikipedia - biography etc.
• A fine obituary by Emily VanDerWerff
• The Head of Orpheus - comprehensive fan site
• The Russell Hoban website - also a comprehensive fan site