Robin Anderson, an internationally known author and interior designer, was born in Scotland and educated in the former Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and South Africa. Before attending Rhodes University in the Eastern Cape, he hosted his own radio programme in Rhodesia and worked as a reporter on “The Bulawayo Chronicle” during his gap year.
Leaving South Africa, he spent the early Sixties working with interior design companies in Paris, New York and London. He set up his own design company in London in l970.
Although interior design has been Robin Anderson’s first interest, the designer never stopped writing. Nowadays the designer make numerous television appearances and is a regular guest on a selection of radio programmes. He continues to write for numerous magazines.
As a journalist, his articles have appeared in such magazines as “Antiques International,” “Epicurean Life,” “Impression Magazine” and Good Life.”
As an interior designer, Robin Anderson has featured in “Architectural Digest,” “Vogue,” “House and Garden,” “Maison et Jardin,” Harpers and Queen,” “Architectural Review” and “Casa Vogue,” to name a few. He also features in several “coffee table” books, showing his design work.
In between his heavy schedule working with the private clients such as Ivana Trump, Sally Burton and PR guru Liz Brewer (to name but a few) Robin managed to write his first novel, “REGINA – A Novel of Some Extremes,” which became a popular seller in the late nineties. The novel gives a salacious “behind the scenes” view of the bitchy and competitive world of interior design. In “REGINA,” Robin Anderson spares no punches. “If you want to succeed in the heady, competitive, so-called glamorous world of interior design, you must have the hide of a rhinoceros, the energy of a marathon runner and a first class degree in bitchery! Talent also helps!”
One of his favourite clients was the stylish actress Coral Browne who later married the actor Vincent Price. Robin designed Coral’s “space age” London apartment and worked on the Prices' home in California. “Coral was definitely a one off. I adored her! Only Coral could give the word ‘fuck’ several interpretations and that, to me, is the ultimate style! She could say ‘fuck off’ in such a way that it appeared to be a compliment! And only Coral and Vinnie would take you to Disneyland for tea with Mickey and Minnie Mouse on your fortieth birthday! Did you know Minnie Mouse was a guy? Explains a lot as to what appears in my books!”
Robin travels extensively and the benefits of this is apparent in the various settings in his books. The Amazon, the Yucatan, Borneo, Myanmar, China, Russia, Japan, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Morocco, Kenya, Australia, The Maldives, Mauritius, Canada and America plus the majority of the Caribbean Islands have all been visited. He has walked the Inca Trail in Peru; climbed Mount Kinabulu (Borneo) and Mount Kilimanjaro (Tanzania). He is also a strong believer in the protection of endangered animals. In 1959 he took part in “Operation Noah” which saw the rescue of hundreds of animals from the rising waters of the new Kariba Dam, being built across the mighty Zambezi River in the north/western part of Zimbabwe.
Robin is the proud foster parent to four orang-utans at the Orang-utan Sanctuary in Sepilok, Borneo, plus Rodney, a white rhinoceros and two elephants, Marlene and Marlon, who live happily on a ranch in Zimbabwe.
In total contrast to the above, Robin helped with the salvaging of precious works of art and manuscripts in Florence during the Sixties when the River Arno burst its banks and flooded a major part of the city.
RED SNAPPER, SEBASTIAN & SELINE, VERSUS, THE GALLERY and LA DI DA DI BLOODY DA! are available through AMAZON and may be ordered from most bookshops. STILL LIFE will be available in September 2010 - through NAZCA PLAINS CORPORATION and AMAZON - followed by THIRTEEN TALES OF TEXTUAL AROUSAL. THIRTEEN TALES OF TEXTUAL AROUSAL Vol 2 along with TRANNYS TO TIARAS and BRUISED FRUIT are also scheduled for 2010