Hazel Townson

Born in Nelson, Lancashire, Townson was brought up in the Pendle valley. She attended Accrington High School and then studied English at the University of Leeds. She was a widow to Kenneth Smith; mother to Christopher and Catherine; grandmother to Jay, Vee, Max and Clea; and great-grandmother to Leon & Luca . Townson died on 11 October 2010, aged 82, surrounded by family, after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease. She had been living in Prestwich Hills, Greater Manchester.

In 2005, Virgin Atlantic selected her most-recent book The Adventures of a Lottery Winner for inclusion in around 50,000 children's on-board goodie bags.

She frequently visited schools, libraries, colleges and writers' groups to talk about children's literature and to assist with creative writing. Following its formation in 1985, Townson chaired the panel for the annual "Lancashire Children's Book of the Year" award.

Townson released three series of books — The Lenny and Jake series (between 1981 and 1997), Tiger Young Readers' series (1989–1992) and The Speckled Panic series (1982–1995). Her final release, two years before her death in 2010, was Deathwood Damian Strikes Again.

Her first book, entitled Looking for Lossie, was published in 1975. By 1998, Townson published books totalled 55. These ranged from picture books to teenage novels. Some of Townson's books, such as The Speckled Panic and Terrible Tuesday, have been adapted for television. She also had stories commissioned for Granada Television's Time for a Story, Tickle on the Tum and Story World programmes.

Hazel Townson (12 April 1928 – 11 October 2010) was an English children's-literature author. She had over seventy books published from 1975 onwards, including in countries such as the Netherlands, Spain, France and Japan.