R. F. Delderfield, a respected author, playwright, screenwriter, and newspaperman, was born in Greenwich, England, in 1912 and became a full-time author after a stint as a small-town reporter and an RAF hitch in World War II. According to The New York Times Book Review, Delderfield wrote "with vigor, unceasing narrative drive, and a high degree of craftsmanship," and he described himself as "a compulsive teller of tales, a real chronic case." Delderfield died in 1972.