Colin Thubron
A travel writer of rare literary intensity who ventured into closed societies and ancient lands to map the contours of history and memory.
Born 1939 (age 87)·British travel writer and novelist·Birthday: June 14·The Silent Generation
Biography
Colin Thubron approaches travel as a form of austere, poetic pilgrimage. His early journeys behind the Iron Curtain and through the Middle East established a template: solitary, linguistically prepared, and deeply engaged with the historical and spiritual weight of a place. Unlike many in the genre, Thubron's focus is inward as much as outward; his books like 'In Siberia' and 'Shadow of the Silk Road' are as much about the ghosts of empires and the persistence of faith as they are about geography. He is a consummate stylist, his prose dense, metaphorical, and haunting. As President of the Royal Society of Literature, he championed literary excellence, a standard his own work—which also includes finely-wrought novels—consistently meets. Thubron travels not for comfort or escape, but for a difficult, essential encounter with the world's forgotten corners.
The Silent Generation
1928–1945
Born between the Depression and the end of WWII. Too young to fight, old enough to remember. They became the conformist middle managers of the 1950s — and the civil rights leaders who quietly dismantled Jim Crow.
Colin was born in 1939, placing them squarely in The Silent Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Colin Was Born
The biggest hits of 1939
#1 Movie
Gone with the Wind
Best Picture
Gone with the Wind
Colin's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1939Born
World War II begins; The Wizard of Oz premieres
Gas: $0.19/galMin wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Over the Rainbow" — Judy GarlandBest Picture: Gone with the Wind
1944Started school
D-Day: Allied forces land at Normandy
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $3,400Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Swinging on a Star" — Bing CrosbyBest Picture: Going My Way
1952Became a teenager
Queen Elizabeth II ascends the throne
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $8,350Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Blue Tango" — Leroy AndersonBest Picture: The Greatest Show on Earth
1955Could drive
Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat
Gas: $0.29/galHome: $9,550Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Rock Around the Clock" — Bill Haley & His CometsBest Picture: Marty
1957Could vote
Sputnik launches the Space Age
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $10,550Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"All Shook Up" — Elvis PresleyBest Picture: The Bridge on the River Kwai
1960Turned 21
Kennedy-Nixon debates become first televised presidential debates
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,900Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Theme from A Summer Place" — Percy FaithBest Picture: The Apartment
1969Turned 30
Apollo 11: humans walk on the Moon; Woodstock festival
Gas: $0.35/galHome: $15,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Sugar, Sugar" — The ArchiesBest Picture: Midnight Cowboy
1979Turned 40
Iran hostage crisis begins; Three Mile Island accident
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $37,900Min wage: $2.90/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"My Sharona" — The KnackBest Picture: Kramer vs. Kramer
1989Turned 50
Berlin Wall falls; Tiananmen Square protests
Gas: $1.00/galHome: $79,100Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"Look Away" — ChicagoBest Picture: Driving Miss Daisy
1999Turned 60
Columbine shooting; Y2K panic builds
Gas: $1.17/galHome: $113,900Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Believe" — CherBest Picture: American Beauty
2009Turned 70
Michael Jackson dies; Bitcoin created
Gas: $2.35/galHome: $148,500Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Boom Boom Pow" — The Black Eyed PeasBest Picture: The Hurt Locker
2019Turned 80
First image of a black hole; Hong Kong protests
Gas: $2.60/galHome: $224,400Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"Old Town Road" — Lil Nas XBest Picture: Parasite
2026Age 87 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Served as President of the Royal Society of Literature from 2009 to 2017.
- Awarded the Hawthornden Prize for 'Among the Russians,' his early account of traveling in the Soviet Union.
- Received the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award for 'The Lost Heart of Asia,' his journey through the former Soviet republics.
- Appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to literature.
Did You Know?
He is a distant relative of the 19th-century poet John Dryden, from whom he derives his middle name.
Before becoming a full-time writer, he worked for a time as a documentary filmmaker for Thames Television.
He learned Russian specifically to travel more deeply in the Soviet Union for his early books.
He is a noted novelist; his book 'A Cruel Madness' won the PEN/Macmillan Silver Pen Award.
“Travel for me is a form of asceticism; you strip yourself of possessions, of friends, of all the cushions of habit.”
