Donald Jack

Donald Jack is a scriptwriter, playwright, and novelist of historical fiction and literature best known for the “Bandy Papers” series of novels. Jack was born in 1924 in Standlane, Radcliffe to a Scottish doctor named Robert Jack and a Canadian nurse named Sarah Lamont. His father was the medical officer for the small town of Bury for the seven years between 1936 and 1943. He went to Bury Grammar School and then Marr College in Scotland from where he earned the qualifications that got him into London University. Between 1943 and 1947, he served in the Royal Airforce and while what he did after leaving the RAF is unclear, it is known that he moved back to Radcliffe. It was during this time that he attempted to become an author though he was not sure if he had the talent needed for the endeavor. After several years of struggle that yielded nothing, he decided to leave home and emigrate to Canada to find something to do. In Canada, he went to the Toronto based Canadian Theatre School but soon learned that acting was not one of his strong suits. But he got the much-needed break when “Minuet for Brass Band” his first full-length stage play was praised by critics. He followed this with another successful stage play, which opened the doors for him and got him a job at Crawley Films Ltd as a scriptwriter. After several documentary film scripts for his parent company and several others, he decided to become a freelance author. By 1962, he had more than forty stage and television plays.