John Noone, an accomplished writer, passed away at the age of 89, leaving behind a prolific legacy that spanned 60 years.

Born in Darlington, County Durham, he was the third of six children in a family where his father worked as an industrial engineer.

Noone attended St Mary’s grammar school, completed national service in the Durham Light Infantry, and earned an English degree from King’s College, Newcastle.

During his army service, he was stationed in the Suez Canal Zone and later returned to Egypt in 1961 as an English lecturer at Alexandria University.

He spent most of his life teaching abroad, including roles in Libya and Japan, under the British Council.

In 1980, he met Isabelle Forani in Kyoto; they lived in France together and married in 1994.

Noone is survived by his wife Isabelle, his child, and two stepdaughters from Isabelle's previous marriage.

He transitioned to nonfiction in the 1980s with works like The Man Behind the Iron Mask, which explored the identity of a historical prisoner.

His debut novel, The Man With the Chocolate Egg, published in 1966, featured a British soldier in a moment of crisis and won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize in 1967.

His second novel, The Night of Accomplishment, was written in Japan during a personal upheaval following his divorce from Kate Turnbull.

In his later years, Noone produced a variety of works, including the two-volume Turtle Tortoise, Image and Symbol (2013) and three psychological thrillers: O Fortuna (2016), Anteros (2017), and Culler of Beasts (2019).

A collection of his short stories, Like As Not, was published in 2018, showcasing his versatility as a writer.