Michael White (author)

Michael White (1959 – 6 February 2018[1]) was a British writer who was based in Perth, Australia. He studied at King's College London (1977–1982) and was a chemistry lecturer at d'Overbroeck's College, Oxford (1984–1991).

He was a science editor of British GQ, a columnist for the Sunday Express in London and, 'in a previous incarnation', he was a member of Colour me Pop. Colour Me Pop featured on the "Europe in the Year Zero" EP in 1982 with Yazoo and Sudeten Creche and he was then a member of the group The Thompson Twins (1982).[2] He moved to Australia in 2002 and was made an Honorary Research Fellow at Curtin University in 2005.

He was the author of thirty-five books: these include Stephen Hawking: A Life in Science; Leonardo: The First Scientist; Tolkien: A Biography; and C. S. Lewis: The Boy Who Chronicled Narnia. His first novel Equinox – thriller, an occult mystery reached the Top Ten in the bestseller list in the UK and has been translated into 35 languages. His non-fiction production included the biography Galileo: Antichrist[3] Novels following Equinox include The Medici Secret, The Borgia Ring and The Art of Murder.

White wrote under two further names, Tom West and Sam Fisher.[4] He used the latter pseudonym to publish the E-Force trilogy, State of Emergency, Aftershock, and Nano.[5]

A further novel by White, The Venetian Detective, features characters including Galileo and Elizabeth.

White wrote a biography of Isaac Newton, The Last Sorcerer. He was both short-listed and long-listed for the Aventis prize. Rivals was short-listed in 2002,[6] and The Fruits of War long-listed in 2006.[7] He was also nominated for the Ned Kelly Prize for First Novel (for Equinox in 2007).[8]