John Chaloner (1924-2007)

John Seymour Chaloner, who died on 9 February, was an author, editor, illustrator, publisher and farmer. He began his career as a junior on Boy's Own Paper in 1939, aged 15, becoming assistant editor within a year. Journalism was a family tradition as his father, Ernest J. Chaloner, was the editor of a daily newspaper, and his mother, Lenore Chaloner, was an editor (of Ideal Home, Decoration, Parents, Home and School and Woman's Magazine) and author (as Len Chaloner).

After serving in the army, he was seconded to the Public Relations and Information Services Control and, in 1945, started the weekly news magazine Der Spiegel in Germany. After being demobbed he started his own company, Seymour Press, which distributed foreign publications.

Chaloner wrote and illustrated a number of children's books (as Jon Chalon) as well as books for adults.

A fuller obituary can be found in The Times (16 February).

Novels
Three for the Road, illus. Burnard. London, Hutchinson, 1956.
The Eager Beaver. London, Anthony Blond, 1963.
Family Hold Back. London, Dennis Dobson, 1969; as To Europe With Love, London, Corgi, 1972.
To the Manner Born. London, Cassell, 1978.
Bottom Line. London, Severn House, 1984.
Occupational Hazard. Lonodn, Severn House, 1991.

Novels as Jon Chalon
The Story of the Green Bus. London, Hutchinson, 1958; as The Green Bus, London, Transworld, 1973.
The Flying Steamroller. London, Anthony Blond, 1962.
The House Next Door. London, Dennis Dobson, 1967.
Sir Lance-a-Little and the Knights of the Kitchen Table. London, Heinemann, 1971.
The Voyage of the Floating Bedstead. London, Heinemann, 1973.
The Dustmen's Holiday. London, Heinemann, 1976.
The Great Balloon Adventure. London, Severn House, 1984.
Will o' the Wheels and Speedy Sue. London, Heather Books, 1990.