People like Reginald Hill

Reginald Charles Hill FRSL (3 April 1936 – 12 January 2012) was an English crime writer and the winner in 1995 of the Crime Writers' Association Cartier Diamond Dagger for Lifetime Achievement.

Hill was born to a "very ordinary" family. His father, Reg Hill, was a professional footballer. His mother was a fan of Golden Age crime writers, and he discovered the genre while fetching her library books. He passed the Eleven plus exam and attended Carlisle Grammar School where he excelled in English. After National Service (1955–57) and reading English at St Catherine's College, Oxford (1957–60), he worked as a teacher for many years, becoming a senior lecturer at Doncaster College of Education. In 1980 he retired from salaried work to devote himself full-time to writing.