Peter John Stephens is known for his historical fiction

Historical fiction

Historical fiction tells a story that is set in the past. That setting is usually real and drawn from history, and often contains actual historical persons, but the principal characters tend to be fictional...

 books for teens and three children’s books. He was also a poet, a lyricist for operas and musicals, and a playwright with an off-Broadway play, "A Power of Dreams” in which Anne Meara

Anne Meara

Anne Meara is an American actress and comedian. She and Jerry Stiller were a prominent 1960s comedy team, appearing as Stiller and Meara, and are the parents of actor/comedian Ben and actress Amy Stiller.- Personal life :...

 of Stiller and Meara

Stiller and Meara

Stiller and Meara were a husband and wife comedy duo popular in the 1960s and 1970s. They made frequent appearances on television variety shows such as The Ed Sullivan Show....

 starred. He was the brother of Richard Waring

Richard Waring

Richard Waring was a British-born American actor, appearing in both Hollywood movies and in many Broadway plays....

, the US-based actor, and son of Thomas E. Stephens

Thomas E. Stephens

Thomas Edgar Stephens was a portrait painter and friend of Dwight D. Eisenhower, whom the President addressed as "Dear Tommy", born in Cardiff, Wales in 1886. His father Thomas Stephens was born in Aberthaw, South Wales...

, whose portrait of Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...

 hangs in the Smithsonian Gallery of Presidents

Smithsonian Institution

The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...

 and Evelyn Mary Waring. Retaining his British citizenship, Peter John wrote articles for the British Information Service, Rockefeller Center, New York City.

He was briefly married to the novelist, Henrietta Buckmaster, before Marcia Nichols Holden, a foster daughter of Harry Sidney Nichols

Harry Sidney Nichols

Harry Sidney Nichols was born in Leeds, Yorkshire, son of a "Glass Merchant". He was an antiquarian book dealer, but he made his fortune as a Sheffield publisher and printer of high-end erotica in partnership with Leonard Smithers which included such works as Sir Richard Francis Burton's...

, was a poet and editor. Her son from a previous marriage was Anton Holden, Emmy winning sound editor and the author of “Prince Valium”, Stein and Day

Stein and Day

Stein and Day, Inc. was an American publishing company founded by Sol Stein and his wife Patricia Day in 1962. Stein was both the publisher and the editor-in-chief...

, 1982. They had two children Dylan Stephens and Gillian Stephens, both musicians. Divorced in 1968 and moving to England, he married Eliane Falconi, an opera singer. They had one child, Dilys Stephens, an artist. He died of prostate cancer

Prostate cancer

Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...

 in Streatham

Streatham

Streatham is a district in Surrey, England, located in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-History:...

, London.

His paternal great-great grandfather, Matthew Stephens, was a successful Welsh smuggler

Smuggling

Smuggling is the clandestine transportation of goods or persons, such as out of a building, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.There are various motivations to smuggle...

 in Barry.

Plays

• "Hugh of the Glen and his clogs are all one" The Best One-Act Plays (1951-1952)
• "A Power of Dreams” Off-Broadway Production

Children’s Books

• The Story of Fire Fighting, Harvey House, 1966
• Lillapig, Ernest Benn Limited, 1972
• Faster Than Anything, Ernest Benn Limited, 1974

Teen Historical Fiction Books

• The Outlaw King, Atheneum, 1964
• Perrely Plight, Atheneum, 1965
• Towappu, Atheneum, 1966
• Battle for Destiny, Atheneum, 1967
• Claim to the Wilderness, W. W. Norton & Company, 1967
• The Crime of Jairus Posey, Andre Deutsch, 1969
• The Thief-Takers, W. W. Norton & Company, 1970
• The Shadow over Welesmere Gap, Andre Deutsch, 1971
• The Rogue, George G. Harrap & Co, 1973
• A Shot from a Sling, Andre Deutsch, 1975

Opera Librettos (Composer Jan Meyerowitz)

• Simoon, Aug 2 1949 Tanglewood/Mass (from a Strindberg play)
• Godfather Death, June 1, 1961 New York; Conducted by Peter Paul Fuchs
  Peter Paul Fuchs
  Peter Paul Fuchs was an Austrian-born conductor and composer, best known for his conducting appointments with American orchestras and for his teaching. He was also a prolific composer although little of his music survives in performance...
  
  1962