Barry Fantoni
Author
Barry Fantoni was born in London’s East End in 1940 to an Italian father and Jewish mother, both gifted musicians. Aged fourteen, he won a scholarship to Camberwell School of Arts & Crafts, where he studied painting. In 1963, he joined Private Eye, where he created the poet E. J. Thribb. His novel about the world’s oldest detective, Harry Lipkin P.I., was published by Polygon in 2013, his sixties memoir, A Whole Scene Going On, in 2019. Barry died on 20 May 2025 at his home in Turin.
Barry Fantoni was born in London’s East End in 1940 to an Italian father and Jewish mother, both gifted musicians. Aged fourteen, he won a scholarship to Camberwell School of Arts & Crafts, where he studied painting. In 1963, he joined Private Eye, where he created the poet E. J. Thribb. His novel about the world’s oldest detective, Harry Lipkin P.I., was published by Polygon in 2013, his sixties memoir, A Whole Scene Going On, in 2019. Barry died on 20 May 2025 at his home in Turin.
