Hardy, Robin, 1952-

Robin Clarkson Hardy, gay activist, writer, editor and producer of adventure fiction, was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Although he received a law degree from Dalhousie University in 1976, he turned his talents to journalism and creative writing. He settled for a time in Toronto, where he became a staff writer and member of the editorial collective of Body Politic, a respected gay news magazine with an international circulation. He published numerous essays and reviews on gay life and culture in the gay and straight press, produced radio documentaries for CBC Toronto, and served as human rights organizer for the Coalition of Gay Rights.

After living for several years in Europe, Hardy emigrated to the United States in 1984, settling in New York City. Here he established a career as editor, writer and producer of fiction for the adult, young adult, and juvenile markets. From 1987 to 1991 he was executive editor of The Cloverdale Press which specialized in producing action/adventure fiction, westerns, and thrillers for Avon, Bantam, Dell, Ballantyne and other publishers. He was ghostwriter under several pseudonyms of numerous young adult novels in mystery and horror series. His book, Call of the Wendigo (N.Y., Bantam, 1994), the first young adult novel published under his own name, was a great popular success. His manuscript on the AIDS crisis, "Landscape of Death," was incomplete at the time of his deathin 1995. The manuscript was completed by his friend, David Groff, and published (1996) by Houghton-Mifflin under the title The Crisis of Desire.

Robin Clarkson Hardy, gay activist, writer, editor, and producer of adventure fiction, was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada on July 12, 1952, the son of William Hardy, a businessman, and Jean (Guppy) Hardy. In 1955 the Hardy family moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba, and in 1963, to Ottawa, Ontario, where Robin completed his secondary education at The Glebe Collegiate Institute from which he was graduated in July of 1970. Afterwards, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree (with honors) from the University of Alberta, where he studied creative writing, and a Bachelor of Laws Degree in 1976 from Dalhousie University. Finding the prospect of practicing law uncongenial, he turned his talents to journalism and to creative writing. He settled for a time in Toronto, where he became a staff writer and member of the editorial collective of Body Politic, a respected gay news magazine with an international circulation. During his Toronto years he published numerous essays and reviews on gay life and culture in the gay and straight press, produced radio documentaries for CBC Toronto, and served as human rights organizer for the Coalition of Gay Rights, purportedly the first full time salaried position of its kind in Canada.

After living for several years in Europe, Hardy emigrated to the United States in 1984, settling in New York City where he established a career as editor, writer and producer of fiction for the adult, young adult, and juvenile markets. From 1987 to 1991 he was executive editor of The Cloverdale Press which specialized in producing action/adventure fiction, westerns, and thrillers for Avon, Bantam, Dell, Ballantyne and other publishers. He was ghostwriter under several pseudonyms of numerous young adult novels in mystery and horror series. His book, Call of the Wendigo (N.Y., Bantam, 1994), the first young adult novel published under his own name, was a great popular success. His manuscript on the AIDS crisis, "Landscape of Death," was incomplete at the time of his death. The manuscript was completed by his friend, David Groff, and published (1996) by Houghton-Mifflin under the title The Crisis of Desire .

In 1993 Mr. Hardy removed to Tucson, Arizona where he continued his work as a freelance writer and editor. On October 28, 1995 he lost his life while hiking with a friend in the mountains of Tonto National Forest. At the time of his death he was undergoing treatment for HIV infection. He was survived by his parents, his two sisters, Eloise and Michele Hardy, of Ottawa, and by his brother Charles, also of Ottawa.