Peter Haining, author of `James Bond: A Celebration`, dies aged 67

Anthologist Peter Haining, born 1940, died from a heart attack on November 19, 2007, at the age of 67.

He is best known to 007 fans as the author of "James Bond: A Celebration" - one of the first books focussing on the cinematic series.

As well as his 1987 Bond book, he edited numerous fantasy and horror anthologies.

He began his career as a reporter in Essex and then moved to London where he worked on a trade magazine before joining the publishing house of New English Library. Peter achieved the position of Editorial Director before becoming a full time writer in the early Seventies. He edited a large number of anthologies, predominantly of horror and fantasy short stories, wrote non-fiction books on a variety of topics from the Channel Tunnel to Sweeney Todd and also used the pen names "Ric Alexander" and "Richard Peyton" on a number of crime story anthologies. In the Seventies he wrote three novels, including The Hero (1973), which was optioned for filming.

He wrote several reference books on Doctor Who, including the 21st anniversary special Doctor Who: A Celebration Two Decades Through Time and Space (1983), and also wrote the definitive study of Sherlock Holmes on the screen, The Television Sherlock Holmes (1991) and several other television tie-ins featuring famous literary characters, including Maigret and Poirot. Peter Haining's most recent project was a series of World War Two stories based on extensive research and personal interviews: The Jail That Went To Sea (2003), The Mystery of Rommel's Gold (2004), Where The Eagle Landed (2004), The Chianti Raiders (2005) and The Banzai Hunters (2007).

He won the British Fantasy Awards Karl Edward Wagner Award in 2001.

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