21 NOVEMBER 1970, Page 8

About our contributors:

Sir William Armstrong Permanent Secretary of the Civil Service Department and head of the Home Civil Ser- vice since 1968. Has assisted in two devalua. tions of the pound, the first as Private Secre. tary to Sir Stafford Cripps, and the second as Joint Permanent Secretary to the Treasury. Comes from a family of Salvation Amy officers; and went up to Oxford from Be: School in South London. Has been rising steadily ever since.

Clarence Brown

Professor of Russian at Princeton Univer- sity. Began to draw '011ie', for no particular reason, during a sabbatical year in England, and has not stopped.

Nicholas Davenport

A scholar of Queen's College, Oxford, and a dedicated Keynesian. Began writing a financial column for Keynes at The Nation and then the New Statesman up to 1939. After the war, wisely switched to the SPECTATOR. Columnar output now in excess of one-and-a-half million words. Author of The Vested Interests, and The Split Society. Late deputy chairman of the National Mutual Life Assurance Society, and still go- ing strong in the City.

Clive Gammon

Born, educated and still living in Swansea. a town he is fond of. Gave up a lectureship at a teacher training college to devote himself to sport, and to travelling, mostly courtesy of the Time-Life organisation. Has written nine books on fishing, the most recent a textbook on salt-water fishing. Writes for the Daily Express, and now a regular con- tributor to the SPECTATOR.

Bill Grundy

Aged 47. Educated at Manchester secondary schools and then Manchester University after a brief spell in the Fleet Air Arm. Was a geological engineer for ten years, and then moved over permanently to broadcasting and writing, mostly with Granada, Thames and BBC. Overwhelmed with children (six of them), and has a book coming out shortly, The Flower of Gloster, based on a children s serial.

Simon Harcourt-Smith

Got into the Diplomatic Service first time on the strength of fluent German learnt in Viennese night clubs. Sent out to Peking during the Sino-Japanese conflict, and found himself interpreting between peasant Chinese and the Mandarin police. His most recent book is Poon, based on a Siamese fairy tale: and he is now at work on a history of morals, where they exist, since Babylonian times.

Frank Whitford Educated at Wadham College, Oxford. BO' lin University and the Courtauld Institute. Now teaches at the Slade School of Art. Has written extensively on German expression' ism, does a weekly cartoon for the .Sandal , Mirror, and was at one time art critic a Nova.