The people of Menston are being urged to get behind a campaign to celebrate the village’s links to “one of Yorkshire’s greatest writers”.

Biographer Greg Christie, who uncovered Lassie author Eric Mowbray Knight’s Menston roots in the 1990s, wants a blue plaque to go up in the village to commemorate the writer’s birthplace.

Mr Christie, from Malton, started researching Knight’s work after being given a copy of his book, Sam Small The Flying Yorkshireman, and has spent years working on a full biography.

Mr Christie believes Knight deserves to be held in the same regard as other Yorkshire literary giants like JB Priestley and the Brontes – and that having a memorial plaque in his home village would be an important step towards restoring his reputation.

He had initially hoped the plaque could go up on the house where Knight was born, but says anywhere appropriate in the village would do.

He said: “Perhaps the library might be an appropriate place. It’s in the centre of the village and patronised by everybody.

“So long as I can see his name somewhere, with his birth and death dates, I’d be very happy. And I’d hope that villagers and visitors would be happy too, and proud of having this connection with a very significant author whose life has all but been forgotten.

“I want people, particularly local people, to be aware that I’m mounting this campaign because at some point I’m likely to be standing at a street corner asking for donations – the plaque will cost £750!

“Knight’s work covered many genres and probably, if it hadn’t been for Lassie, we would have remembered him for more, shall we say, scholarly works. But Lassie is what caught the public’s imagination and Lassie on its own should be enough for the man to be honoured in his home village, because make no mistake Lassie was the Harry Potter of its day and took the world by storm.”

He added: “There have been 27 Lassie films and TV shows and it has been translated into more than 100 languages.

“In his day Knight was as well-known as Ernest Hemingway (who he was friends with) in America. We do recognise other Yorkshire writers but we don’t recognise Eric Knight and we should.”

Knight was born in Menston in 1897 and juggled school with working at night. By the age of 15 he had saved enough to fund a trip to the US where he eventually met the dog that inspired the now world-famous tales of canine bravery.

Knight was involved in both World Wars, fighting in the trenches for three years in the First and serving as a US army major in the Second, during which he wrote the US Forces handbook which was given to every American soldier, and all seven of Frank Capra’s Why We Fight army information films.

He received a UK posting in 1943 but never made it home, as the American Army transport plane he was travelling on crashed off Dutch Guyana in January that year, killing all on board. His Lassie Come Home story was made into a film, starring Elizabeth Taylor, later that year.

Mr Christie will now have further discussions with the Civic Trust, which runs the blue plaque scheme, about the idea and with Menston Parish Council about a suitable location.