John Sandilands

 

Introduction to Articles

John first came to widespread attention with Nova, the daring and innovative woman’s magazine of the 1960s and 70s. Nova was the first ‘intelligent’ woman’s magazine, and the first to use top-quality writers. It was at Nova that John’s ability at profile writing came to the fore, and some wonderful examples are reprinted here. 
He went on to contribute to Sunday magazines such as The Observer Magazine, Sunday Times and Telegraph Magazines, and the Mail on Sunday’s YOU magazine, all then in their confident heyday.  While working for YOU magazine, he became a leading travel writer, again showing an unusual facility with this difficult genre.  Most travel writing in newspapers and magazines is little more than an extended thank you note for a free trip to an exotic location. John’s travel pieces are a notable exception to the often tawdry norm. 
John wrote for Woman magazine when his then wife,  publishing executive Jo Sandilands, was the editor. In those days, Woman had a circulation in excess of three million, and was a mighty power in the land. 
As a sports fanatic, John also contributed columns to papers such as the now-defunct Today, and the Evening Standard. He also excelled at television reviews and personal columns. Those written about his cat, Colin, are among his funniest ever.
Here is a selection of his best work or, at least, those pieces which met their deadlines. 

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List of John Sandilands articles