Howard Whitehouse, Author

Howard Whitehouse was born in Birmingham, England, on April 13, 1958. He began school, as many children do, and didn’t much like it. They made him keep going, though, and after a mere four or five years settled in and got good marks. He enjoyed creative writing (they didn’t call it that) and was a master of the three-to-four page adventure story, by and for nine year olds. In fact, he couldn’t write anything else, and even when the assignment was to write a Christmas scene, there would at least be some villains lurking behind Santa’s sleigh.

As punishment for being the brightest kid in his class, young Whitehouse won a scholarship to King Edward VI School, which had been founded in 1552, and kept the same staff since that time. JRR Tolkien (the writer of The Lord of the Rings had been there as a boy, but he’d left long before Howard got there.

Howard received his Bachelor of Arts in History at the University of Warwick. After graduating in 1981, he took a job working with kids in trouble, most of it of their own making. Since Howard found these kids — mostly teenagers — immensely entertaining, this became his career for 18 years. He met and married Lori, and moved to Savannah, Georgia. Since that time the happy couple have lived in Georgia, Toronto and most recently New York’s Hudson Valley. Lori is an ordained minister and church historian, with a Ph.D. from The University of Toronto. They share a 1900-era manse opposite the church, while Howard clutters up the place with model soldiers, miniature buildings and himself. Ursula the tabby cat supervises his efforts.