K.M. Peyton

Kathleen Wendy Herald Peyton (2 August 1929 – 19 December 2023), who wrote primarily as K. M. Peyton, was a British author of fiction for children and young adults in the 1960s and 1970s.

Peyton wrote more than fifty novels in the including the Ruth Hollis series, the Pennington series, and the Flambards series, the latter about the Russell family which spanned the period before and after the First World War. For the Flambards series, Peyton won both the 1969 Carnegie Medal from the Library Association Peyton began writing when she was nine-years-old and was first published when she was fifteen. Growing up in London, she could not own a horse, and instead developed an obsession with them—all her early books are about young girls who have ponies. In 1950, Peyton published her first novel Sabre, the Horse from the Sea, illustrated by British artist Lionel Edwards.

Later, she attended Kingston Art School, and then Manchester Art School. It was there that she met another student, Mike Peyton, an ex-serviceman who had been a military artist and prisoner of war. He shared her love of walking in the Pennines. They married in 1950, During this time, she began writing under the name K.M. Peyton—the 'M' represented her husband Mike who helped create the plots of her stories. Later in life, Peyton became involved in horse racing and used her own personal experiences of owning horses as further inspiration for her writing. Peyton was an artist herself and self-illustrated a few of her own novels as well. During the 1970s, her best-selling series Flambards was published in multiple languages, such as Italian, German, Finnish, and Swedish.

Writers who cite K.M. Peyton as an influence include Linda Newbery, whose young adult novel The Damage Done (2001, Scholastic) is dedicated "to Kathleen Peyton, who made me want to try."

Death Peyton died on 19 December 2023, at the age of 94. Peyton had two daughters, Hilary and Veronica.

Adaptations The Flambards trilogy was adapted by Yorkshire Television in 1978. The TV miniseries, Flambards, starring Christine McKenna as the heroine Christina Parsons, comprised 13 episodes.

Flambards Series (1967–1981) Flambards (Oxford, 1967), illustrated by Victor Ambrus The Edge of the Cloud (Oxford, 1969), ill. Ambrus Flambards in Summer (Oxford, 1969), ill. Ambrus Flambards Divided (1981) Peyton's extension of the trilogy followed its television adaptation and reversed the original ending.

Ruth Hollis Series (1968–1979) Fly-by-Night (1968), self-illustrated The Team (1975), self-ill. The Pennington series continues the story of Ruth Hollis in 1971.

Pennington Series (1970–1979) Pennington's Seventeenth Summer (1970), later as Pennington's Last Term, self-ill. The Beethoven Medal (1971), a.k.a. If I Ever Marry, self-ill. Pennington's Heir (1973), self-ill. Marion's Angels (1979)

Jonathan Meredith Series (1977–1984) Prove Yourself a Hero (1977) A Midsummer Night's Death (1978) The Last Ditch (1984), also published as Free Rein

See also the Ruth Hollis series: Jonathan Meredith is a minor character in The Team.

Swallow Series (1995–1997) The Swallow Tale (1995) Swallow Summer (1996) Swallow the Star (1997)

Minna Series (2007–2009) Set in Roman Britain. Stealaway (2001) ‡ Pony in the Dark (2001) ‡ Small Gains (2003) ‡ My Alice (2004) Greater Gains (2005) ‡ Blue Skies and Gunfire (2006) Paradise House (2011) ‡ All That Glitters (2014) ‡

§ By age fifteen, Kathleen Herald had written "about ten more" novels that publishers rejected with "very nice letters".