Patrick Leigh Fermor

Sir Patrick Michael Leigh Fermor, DSO, OBE , also known as Paddy Fermor, was a British author, scholar and soldier who played a prominent role behind the lines in the Cretan resistance during the Second World War. He was widely regarded as Britains greatest living travel writer during his lifetime, based on books such as A Time of Gifts . A BBC journalist once described him as a cross between Indiana Jones, James Bond and Graham Greene. The Patrick Leigh Fermor Society was formed in 2014.

Leigh Fermor was born in London, the son of Sir Lewis Leigh Fermor, a distinguished geologist, and Muriel Aeyleen, daughter of Charles Taafe Ambler. Shortly after his birth, his mother and sister left to join his father in India, leaving the infant Patrick in England with a family in Northamptonshire. He did not meet his family in person until he was four years old. As a child, Leigh Fermor had problems with academic structure and limitations. As a result, he was sent to a school for difficult children. He was later expelled from The Kings School, Canterbury, when he was caught holding hands with a greengrocers daughter.

Source: Wikipedia