Williamson, Henry (1895-1977), was a British author and naturalist. He won praise for his nature novels, which are sensitive but avoid sentimentality. He first won general recognition with Tarka the Otter (1927), which was awarded the Hawthornden Prize. This perceptive story of the life of an otter shows the author’s love of the countryside and wild animals. His other stories about wild animals include The Peregrine Saga (1923), The Old Stag (1926), Salar the Salmon (1935), The Phaison Bird (1948), and Tales of Moorland and Estuary (1953).
Williamson was born on Dec. 1, 1895, in Bedfordshire, England. He was permanently affected by his experiences in World War I (1914-1918). He described the horrors of the war in two autobiographical novels, The Wet Flanders Plain (1929) and A Patriot’s Progress (1930). Williamson also wrote two series of novels, The Flax of Dreams (1921-1928) and A Chronicle of Ancient Sunlight (1951-1969). He died on Aug. 13, 1977.
