Norman Hunter was born in 1899 in Sydenham, London. He was energetic and hard-working: after leaving school he worked as an advertising copywriter, performed as a stage magician and wrote books on many subjects, including advertising, brainteasers and conjuring. And he created Professor Branestawm!Professor Branestawm was originally created for a children’s series on BBC Radio. He went on to appear in a series of thirteen books written over the next fifty years, from 1933 to 1983. The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawm is the first book in the series. During the Second World War Norman Hunter lived on a boat on the Thames. In 1949 he went to work in South Africa, but returned to England in 1969 and spent the rest of his life living by the Thames in Staines. He died in 1995 aged 95.When Norman Hunter was asked if Professor Branestawm was based on a real person, he admitted ‘Professor Branestawm jolly well represents me!’