James Herriot is the pen name of James Alfred Wight, known as Alf (October 3, 1916 - February 23, 1995). Wight was born in Roker, Sunderland where his parents came from, but brought up in Glasgow where at the age of twenty-three he qualified as a veterinarian. Wight worked in a rural practice in the town of Thirsk, Yorkshire, England, but was better known as the author of a series of books about his life working as a vet and his training in the RAF during the Second World War.

The books, which told of many comic incidents in his career working for farmers and townsfolk in the fabulously beautiful Yorkshire Dales of the North of England, were enormously popular, and by the time of his death he was one of the foremost best-selling authors in both Britain and the United States. The books were made into two films and a major BBC television series. The popularity of the books and the adaptations have inspired many to become vets themselves.

Works include:

• If Only They Could Talk (1970)
• It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet (1972)
• Let Sleeping Vets Lie (1973)
• Vet in Harness (1974)
• Vets Might Fly (1976)
• Vet in a Spin (1977)
• James Herriot's Yorkshire (1979)
• The Lord God Made Them All (1981)
• Every Living Thing (1992)

Omnibus editions:

• All Creatures Great and Small (1972) (incorporating If Only They Could Talk/It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet)
• All Things Bright and Beautiful (1974) (Let Sleeping Vets Lie/Vet in Harness)
• All Things Wise and Wonderful (1977) (Vets Might Fly/Vet in a Spin)

External links

• Official tribute
• The World of James Herriot -- scenes form Herriot's life in Thirsk
• Fan site
• Another fan site