Deric Francis Longden (29 November 1936 – 23 June 2013) was an English writer and autobiographer. Longden was born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. He married Diana Hill in 1958 and had two children. After various jobs he took over a small women's lingerie factory, but began writing and broadcasting in the 1970s for programmes like and Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4. Most of his work was based on his own experience. His wife Diana's illness, subsequently believed to be a form of myalgic encephalomyelitis, forced him to sell the factory. Afterwards, he worked as a full-time writer, broadcaster and speaker.