Leslie Charteris

[on his choice of 'Templar' as the surname for his detective "The Saint"] Ah, there came a truly romantic fetish. My first, even pre-adolescent, idols were the giants of the legends of chivalry. The Knights of the Round Table--the Chevalier Bayard, Roland and Oliver, D'Artagnan as interpreted by Douglas Fairbanks. The age of the glorified goon had not yet dawned, thank Heavens, at least in time to influence me. My paladin had to have a symbolic name, something with a hint of swords and plumes and trumpets in it. Templar, to me, was such a name. Show less «