 Fans of "Roaring Boys" and its sequel, "This Right Soft Lot", ranged from the novelist Kingsley Amis to former Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock.For more than 33 years, from its inception in 1961 until, at least, 1994, Blishen was the editor of the "Junior Pears Encyclopaedia", published by Pelham Books.Blishen had a regular column in The Young Elizabethan.