Neil Paterson (writer)

Neil Paterson
Born	James Edmund Neil Paterson (1915-12-31)31 December 1915 Greenock,Scotland
Died	19 April 1995(1995-04-19)(aged 79) Crieff,Scotland
Pen name	John Kovack
Occupation	Novelist,short story writer, screenwriter, journalist, footballer
Nationality	Scottish
Citizenship	British
Alma mater	University of Edinburgh
Period	1946–1990
Notable works	Room at the Top(screenplay for 1959 film version)
Notable awards	Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay 1959Room at the Top
Association football career Position(s) Inside left Senior career* Years Team Apps (Gls) Edinburgh University Buckie Thistle Leith Athletic 1936–1937 Dundee United 26 (9) *Club domestic league appearances and goals

James Edmund Neil Paterson(31 December 1915 – 19 April 1995)was a Scottishwriter of novels,short stories and screenplays. He won the 1959Academy Award for Best Adapted ScreenplayforRoom at the Top.Before his success as a writer, he worked in journalism and had a brief career as an amateurfootballer,playing forBuckie Thistle,Leith AthleticandDundee Unitedin theScottish Football League.

Early life and football career

Born inGreenock,Renfrewshire(now part ofInverclyde), Paterson was the older of two children of James D Paterson (1880–1947) and Nicholas K Kerr (1892–1956). He graduated from theUniversity of Edinburghand had a brief career in seniorfootball,playing as aninside left.He played forEdinburgh University,forBuckie Thistlein theHighland Leagueand forScottish LeagueteamsLeith AthleticandDundee United,becoming captain of the latter in the1936–37 season.Despite his success in football – he scored 9 goals from 26 league appearances for Dundee United, including a hat-trick – he remained an amateur player, spurning the opportunity to go professional.As an amateur he was automatically released at the end of the season, although he played one further game for the club in an emergency.

Writing career and later life

After his football career finished he became a writer, initially as a sports journalist forD.C. Thomsonand after the Second World War as an author, penning a number of well received novels and short stories. Paterson won the Atlantic Award for Literature in 1946.

He adapted his own short storyThe Kidnappersfor acinema versionreleased in 1953.Subsequently, he wrote a number of other screenplays, including the first screen version ofJohn Braine's novelRoom at the Top(1959) which later won theAcademy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.Paterson served as a governor for theBritish Film Institute,National Film Schooland theArts Council of Great Britainand as an executive forGrampian Television.

He died in 1995 atCrieff,Tayside(now part ofPerth and Kinross).

Selected bibliography

• On my Faithless Arm(1946) (Under pseudonym John Kovack)
• The China Run: Being the biography of a great-grandmother(1948)
• Behold Thy Daughter(1950)
• The China Run: A book of short stories(1951)
• Man on the Tightrope(1952)
• Man on a Tightrope: The Short Novel(1953)
• The Kidnappers and other Stories(1957)
• Something like a poem(1986)

Selected filmography

• The Kidnappers(US:The Little Kidnappers,1953)
• Man on a Tightrope(1953)
• Devil on Horseback(1954)
• The Woman for Joe(1955)
• High Tide at Noon(1957)
• The Shiralee(1957)
• Innocent Sinners(1958)
• Room at the Top(1959)
• The Spiral Road(1962)

External links

• Neil PatersonatIMDb