Roger Butters is a native of Stafford, England, where he has lived all his life. He was educated at the local King Edward VI School, then a grammar school, apart from a brief spell at Denstone College, near Uttoxeter, from which he ran away (twice). Following his father into the legal profession, he qualified as a solicitor in 1962 and practised in Stafford for several years before retiring to give more time to writing and other interests.
In the 1970s, in what were then happier days for the club, he was a director of Stafford Rangers Football Club, and at various times has tried his hand at aviation, owning racehorses, and Shotokan karate. He has obtained a couple of degrees at the Open University, and is a member of the University of the Third Age. His interests include chess, Shakespeare, the local theatre, gardening, and trying to improve his shaky grasp of French and German. One thing he has never tried is marriage.
His first published novel was His Excellency (Robert Hale, 1979), a novel of the Napoleonic War. Altogether he has published over a dozen novels, and two local histories of Stafford, jointly with the borough archives officer, Nick Thomas.
Starsign: Aquarius. Chinese sign: Year of the Dragon.
Likes: Animals, and people who like them.
Dislikes: Restrictions on freedom of speech.