Early Life and Career
Robert Westall was born 7 October 1929 in North Shields, Tyne and Wear (then in Northumberland). He grew up there on Tyneside during the Second World War. Wartime Tyneside is the setting for many of his novels, for which his own life was a great source and inspiration. He earned a Bachelor's degree in Fine Art at Durham University and a post-graduate degree studying Sculpture at the Slade School of Art in London in 1957. From 1953 until 1955, Westall served in the British Army as a Lance Corporal in the Royal Corps of Signals. He subsequently became a teacher, including holding the positions of Head of Art and Head of Careers at Sir John Deane's Grammar School (now Sir John Deane's College) in Northwich, Cheshire. Westall served as a branch director of Samaritans between 1966 and 1975 and also contributed as a journalist to publications such as Cheshire Life and The Cheshire Chronicle as well as The Guardian as an art critic.
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