John's first literary success, at the age of eight, was the words for a carol, performed by the school choir of St George’s School, Tunbridge Wells at Christmas in 1949.  His first professionally published poem, written in 1958, appeared in The Wheel of Poetry in 1963.

From Christ’s Hospital School he won an Exhibition to University College Oxford, read English and then plunged into repertory theatre.

Over the years he has read his own short stories on Radio 3 and written numerous solo shows for performance by himself on the lives of Schumann, Schubert, Mozart, Beethoven, Hopkins, Donne, Pepys, Chaucer, Byron and Browning.  His solo BYRON was seen on HTV in a series with Emlyn Williams called Singular Performances.  He has written two shows for Honor Blackman – WAYWARD WOMEN and  DISHONOURABLE LADIES – which ran at London’s West End Criterion Theatre in 1993.

In 1992 he wrote his first play, DREAM CHILDREN, a two-hander about Charles and Mary Lamb, in which he played Charles on the Edinburgh Fringe.  It was revived ten years later.

His next play THE NAKED PRINCE was optioned by Michael Codron but is as yet unproduced.  He has written two new plays since then:  THE MATTHEW PASSION and BOMBER BOY.  He is currently writing the book and lyrics of a new musical.