John Coldstream is a former literary editor of the Daily Telegraph and the biographer of Dirk Bogarde. His friendship with Bogarde was formed when the actor was a reviewer for the paper.

Coldstream, in an entirely unstudied way, belongs to the long tradition of the man of letters. His tenure as a literary editor coincided with the last days a scholarly figure could find a natural home in a broadsheet newspaper. His innate politeness and amiability were marked on his retirement by a lunch thrown in his honour by the publicists of the major publishing houses - a signal honour yet to be afforded to any other outgoing lit ed. As well as writing Bogarde’s biography, Coldstream has edited volumes of his letters and journalism.