Christopher Bland was born in Japan on May 29, 1938. He grew up in Northern Ireland and was educated at Oxford University. He was captain of the university fencing team and fenced for Ireland at the 1960 Rome Olympics. He was chairman of Canongate for 22 years retiring in October 2016. His debut novel, Ashes in the Wind, was published in 2014. He died from cancer on January 28, 2017 at the age of 78.
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