Adam Marshall Diston (1893–1956; born in Scotland) was a journalist for the Sunday Dispatch and ghostwriter for Winston Churchill. He had 'close affinities' to Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists. He had a military background, serving in a Scottish regiment from 1914 to 1918.
British Union of Fascists
Diston had been involved with the Independent Labour Party (ILP), becoming a treasurer of its London and Southern Counties Division. Later, however, he became involved with Oswald Mosley's New Party, running in the 1931 general election as the party's prospective parliamentary candidate for Wandsworth Central. He received 424 votes (a 1.6% share). That same year, he wrote literature for the New Party, including The Sleeping Sickness of the Labour Party (1931) and, with Robert Forgan (one of the organisers of the January Club), The New Party and the ILP (1931) (written as an appeal to ILP members). He was also part of Mosley's British Union of Fascists (BUF), holding 'a high position in the Publicity Department'.
Churchill's ghostwriter
In 1934, Churchill already had a number of newspaper and magazine writing commitments – Collier's, the News of the World, the Daily Mail – to which was added a regular column in the Sunday Dispatch. The editor of the newspaper, William Blackwood, wanted rights to Churchill's older material, which would be reworked by one of the Dispatch journalists, Adam Marshall Diston. Churchill was to produce one new piece out of every four published by the paper. Later in the year, due to increased demands on him, Churchill asked William Blackwood to prepare an outline for his next column, to which Blackwood responded with a complete article, ghostwritten by Diston, which went to print without the need for changes. Blackwood told Churchill that Diston was a 'splendid journalist' and recommended him to be Churchill's full-time ghostwriter, should Churchill be interested in one. Churchill took Diston into employment two weeks later, which was 'the start of a partnership that would flourish for the rest of the decade'. As Churchill's employee, Diston started on Churchill's remaining Collier's articles for the year, being paid £15 from the £350 commission Churchill received for each article.
By the end of the following year (1935), Diston had already prepared most of Churchill's 'The Great Men I Have Known' series for the News of the World in Britain and Collier's in the USA, due to appear from January 1936. Sir Emsley Carr, the British newspaper's chairman, enjoyed them so much he immediately signed up Churchill for a series in 1937. William Chenery, however, demanded changes to the articles on 'Rockefeller' and 'Charles Chaplin' for Collier's because he considered them 'written in a form better calculated to meet the requirements of English than American mass magazines'. In November 1937 Churchill sent eight articles to the News of the World for serial publication the following year – these, too, were largely written by Diston. In a letter accompanying the articles, Churchill hinted to Colonel Percy Davies, the newspaper's general manager, that he wanted to secure a new contract for 1938, which he received.
Churchill had little input on a number of articles ghostwritten by Diston. When reworking older pieces, Diston would add original material: for example, when reworking an article on French, in the manuscript's first three pages only one paragraph was from Churchill's original article. Diston made insertions like this at his own discretion, informing Churchill after completing the writing. Indeed, a number of Churchill's articles were written in their entirety by Diston. Churchill would also give guidelines to Diston on what to include in articles and leave Diston to produce the piece. In one letter to Diston dated 10 October 1937, Churchill wrote: "I hope you find my notes on the amusement article a help. Do not let them cramp your style or feel any obligation to use them." Churchill liked Diston's writing: in a letter dated 26 October 1935 from Violet Pearman, Churchill's chief secretary, Pearman informs Diston: 'I am asked by Mr Churchill to send you herewith the article on Lloyd George. Mr Churchill says that this is the one he likes the least, as the fitting in of the reviews does not hang at all well with your own material. Would you therefore please put in much more of your own composition, as it is so good'.