Edward Blishen
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Edward Blishen | |
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Born | Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Barnet | 29 April 1920
Occupation(s) | Author and broadcaster |
Spouse(s) | Nancy Smith, m. 1948 |
Children | 2 |
Edward Blishen (29 April 1920 – 13 December 1996) was an English author and broadcaster. He may be known best for the first of two
There is also his series of autobiographical books, including A Cack-Handed War (1972), a story describing his experiences as a
Biography
Edward Blishen was born in
When the
Later, he taught for three years teaching in a Hampstead prep school, before going on to a secondary modern school in Holloway Road, north London, where he wrote his best-selling first book, Roaring Boys, in 1955. Following its success, he gave up teaching in 1959 – although he did some part-time teaching at York University between 1963 and 1965 – in order to devote more time to writing and then to developing a career in broadcasting. Fans of Roaring Boys and its sequel, This Right Soft Lot, ranged from the novelist Kingsley Amis to former Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock.[4]
For more than 33 years, from its inception in 1961 until, at least, 1994, Blishen was the editor of the Junior Pears Encyclopaedia, published by Pelham Books.
Blishen had a regular column in The Young Elizabethan.
As a broadcaster, Blishen did some notable work with the BBC's African Service and later was a presenter of the BBC Radio 4 programme A Good Read and regular contributor to Stop the Week.
He also compiled a number of collections in the Kingfisher Treasury of Stories series and Children’s Classics to Read Aloud.
In June 1995, Blishen was awarded an Honorary Degree from the Open University as Doctor of the University.
He died in Hadley Wood, Hertfordshire, in 1996, at the age of 76. He had two sons and was married to Nancy Smith.[4]
Selected works
- Mind How You Go (Constable, 1997)
- The Disturbance Fee (Hamish Hamilton, 1988)
- The Outside Contributor (Hamish Hamilton, 1986)
- A Second Skin (Hamish Hamilton, 1984)
- Donkey Work (Hamish Hamilton, 1983)
- Lizzie Pye (Hamish Hamilton, 1982)
- Shaky Relations: An autobiography (Hamish Hamilton, 1981)
- A Nest of Teachers (Hamish Hamilton, 1980; Allison & Busby, 1985)
- Sorry, Dad (Hamish Hamilton, 1978; Allison & Busby, 1984)
- Uncommon Entrance (Thames & Hudson, 1974; Trafalgar Square Publishing, 1983)
- The Golden Shadow (Longman, 1973) ‡
- A Cack-Handed War (Thames & Hudson, 1972)
- The God Beneath the Sea (Longman, 1970) ‡
- This Right Soft Lot (Thames & Hudson, 1969; Panther, 1971)
- Roaring Boys: A Schoolmaster's Agony (Thames & Hudson, 1955; Panther, 1966)
- ‡ by Blishen and Leon Garfield, illustrated by Charles Keeping
References
- ^
(Carnegie Winner 1970) Archived 22 February 2012 at the CILIP. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
- ^ ThisIsAnnouncements.co.uk website, 12 December 1996. Archived 5 May 2013 at archive.today
- ^ "Conscientious Objection in Britain during the Second World War, Peace Pledge Union". Ppu.org.uk. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
- ^ a b Nicholas Tucker (16 December 1996). "Obituary: Edward Blishen". The Independent. Retrieved 29 April 2014.