Dan Leissner

Dan Leissner is 66 years old, an American citizen, born in New York, although he's lived in the U.K. since 1966. He graduated from Leicester University in 1976 with a B.A. in Combined Arts and spent several years working on documentary films and other projects with West Midlands Arts. Lack of funding put paid to that and he moved south to the London area where he found employment as a gardener/groundsman at what was then Kingston Polytechnic. He decided to re-train and study Law and attained an LL.B. at Kingston Law School, graduating in 1986. Having wasted a year at Bar School and failed the Bar Exams, he worked as an Editor in Law publishing, between 1987 and 1995, for Butterworths and Longmans. Between 1995 and 2012 he went freelance as a copy editor and proof-reader. In early 2012, he suffered a severe mental breakdown and was hospitalised for several months with a diagnosis of Severe Anxiety and Depression. Now retired, he volunteers as a Peer Support Worker for the mental health charity Mind. And during the Covid crisis he has volunteered as part of the Kingston Stronger Together Covid 19 Buddy Scheme, providing companionship and support for vulnerable people obliged to self-isolate. He is the author of "Tuesday's Child: The Life and Death of Imogen Hassall", the biography of the British actress and "Face" of the 1960's and 70's who took her own life in 1980. Also, the "pulp fiction" novels "Cool Cat", "Hell On Route 666: Cool Cat 2", "Born To Be Bad: Cool Cat 3" and "Drums Of The Lost Gods" ("Celia Queen Of The Jungle" is due for publication), homages to the cult movies of the 1970's and the vintage Pulps of the 1930's, published by Midnight Marquee (www.midmar.com) and available on Amazon. Self-published on Amazon, "The Big Farewell" is his first serious work of fiction. Dan is a proud supporter of his local non-league football team, Kingstonian F.C.