Henry Root's A-Z of Women: "The Definitive Guide" (1985) The Soap Letters (1988) Root into Europe (1992) Root about Britain (1994) Donaldson lived at 139 Elm Park Mansions on Park Walk, Chelsea, London SW10, from which address all the Root letters were sent. Nearby, The Henry Root restaurant has been established in his memory. Donaldson's biographical survey of roguish Britons through the ages, Brewer's Rogues, Villains and Eccentrics (2002), has been described as "a breathtaking triumph of misdirected scholarship". Donaldson also wrote novels including the semi-autobiographical 'Is This Allowed'. In the 1990s he also had a column in The Independent. The phenomenal success of the Henry Root books, especially the first, enabled Donaldson to resume his earlier chaotic lifestyle, and in the mid-1980s he began using crack cocaine. He continued its use for more than a decade, but insisted he was not addicted. Donaldson also wrote under other names, including Dr Kit Bryson, Jean-Luc Legris, and Selina Fitzherbert (who "together" wrote The Complete Naff Guide (1983) and other related books; Donaldson's co-author was Simon Carr, who would write an obituary of Donaldson for The Independent), Talbot Church, and Liz Reed. Personal life Donaldson married Sonia Avory in 1957 and they had a son named Charlie. He left her for Jacki Ellis, then the wife of Jeffrey Bernard, but in due course she left him. A sequence of affairs followed, including liaisons with Sarah Miles and Carly Simon. He left Miles for Simon, whom he described as "the answer to any sane man's prayers; funny, quick, erotic, extravagantly talented", but this did not prevent him from jilting her while they were engaged and returning to Miles. In 1968, Donaldson inherited another fortune and married Claire Gordon. The couple epitomised 1960s Swinging London. He later remembered that "sex, whether in company or not, has been the only department in life in which I have demanded from anyone taking part the very highest standards of seriousness." Donaldson's third marriage, in 1986, was to Cherry Hatrick, who survived him; they separated six months after their marriage. References Further reading External links Obituaries: The Times The Guardian The Independent The Telegraph English satirists English theatre managers and producers English socialites Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge People educated at Winchester College 1935 births 2005 deaths Pseudonymous writers Carly Simon 20th-century English businesspeople Hoaxers