Barry Hines, English author, Died at 76

Melvin Barry Hines was born on June 30, 1939, and died on March 18, 2016.

He was an English author.

He wrote several popular novels and television scripts.

Barry was best known for his novel A Kestrel for a Knave (1968); he co-wrote the script for the film version Kes (1969), directed by Ken Loach.

The book tells the story of a troubled schoolboy living in a mining village near Barnsley, who finds comfort in tending a kestrel that he named ‘Kes’.

Barry Hines also wrote the script for the BAFTA award winning TV film Threads (1984), a speculative television drama examining the effects of nuclear war on Sheffield.

And the Loach’s film Looks and Smiles (1981), based on a novel by Hines and adapted for the screen by the author, won the Best Contemporary Screenplay prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

However, Kes won a number of awards, including a Writers’ Guild of Great Britain Award for Best British Screenplay and a BAFTA nomination for Best Screenplay.

Threads (1984) won a special award at the 1985 Monte-Carlo Television Festival, the Broadcasting Press Guild Award in 1985 for Best Single Drama, and was nominated for seven different awards during the 1985 BAFTA Awards, winning the Best Single Drama award.

Barry Hines was awarded an Honorary Doctorate (Doctor of Letters) at the University of Sheffield on 14 January 14, 2010.

Barry Hines passed away at 76 yrs old.