The tears of the salamander

Peter Malcolm de Brissac Dickinson OBE FRSL (16 December 1927 – 16 December 2015) was an English author and poet, best known for children's books and detective stories. Dickinson won the annual Carnegie Medal from the Library Association for both Tulku (1979) and City of Gold (1980), each being recognised as the year's outstanding children's book by a British subject. Through 2020 he is one of eight writers to win two Carnegies; no one has won three. He was also a highly commended runner-up for Eva (1988) and four times a commended runner-up. For his contributions as a children's writer Dickinson was a finalist for the Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 2000.