Richard Leigh

Richard Leigh (August 16, 1943 – November 21, 2007) was a novelist and short story writer born in New Jersey who spent most of his life in England. Leigh earned a BA from Tufts University, a Master's degree from the University of Chicago, and a Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. During the 1970s, Richard Leigh moved to England, where he met Michael Baigent, the man who was to be his flat mate and frequent co-author. Leigh... more

Richard Leigh (August 16, 1943 – November 21, 2007) was a novelist and short story writer born in New Jersey who spent most of his life in England. Leigh earned a BA from Tufts University, a Master's degree from the University of Chicago, and a Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. During the 1970s, Richard Leigh moved to England, where he met Michael Baigent, the man who was to be his flat mate and frequent co-author. Leigh introduced Baigent to the alleged Rennes-le-Chateau mystery in France, and Baigent launched into research on the matter. In the same decade, he met Henry Lincoln, an English television scriptwriter, while Lincoln was lecturing at a summer school. The three discovered that they shared a common interest in the Knights Templar, and took their Jesus bloodline theory on the road during the 1970s, in a series of lectures which later developed into the 1982 book, The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail. Published on January 18, 1982, The Holy Blood and... less