| ← Previous revision |
Revision as of 09:36, 21 April 2026 |
| Line 1: |
Line 1: |
|
{{Short description|English writer (1909–2006)}} |
|
{{Short description|English writer (1909–2006)}} |
|
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}} |
|
{{Use British English|date=August 2014}} |
|
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}} |
|
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}} |
|
{{Infobox person |
|
{{Infobox person |
|
| name = E. S. Turner |
|
| name = E. S. Turner |
| Line 58: |
Line 58: |
|
Appraisal in retrospect looks at Turner's dedication to freelance writing—Jonathan Sale referred to him as "the patron saint of freelancing"[—and has focused on his energy, productivity, the scope of his writing, and on its inherent humanity.][Anon., 2006, "Obituary: E. S. Turner", ''The Telegraph'' (online), 17 July 2006, see [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1524088/ES-Turner.html], accessed 27 May 2015.] [[Andrew O'Hagan]], in his 1998 [[London Review of Books|LRB]] retrospective, noted that while Turner's fingers had always been light on the keyboard, his writing was "with a strongly human pulse just under the skin, a richness of personal feeling in the blood." |
|
Appraisal in retrospect looks at Turner's dedication to freelance writing—Jonathan Sale referred to him as "the patron saint of freelancing"[—and has focused on his energy, productivity, the scope of his writing, and on its inherent humanity.][Anon., 2006, "Obituary: E. S. Turner", ''The Telegraph'' (online), 17 July 2006, see [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1524088/ES-Turner.html], accessed 27 May 2015.] [[Andrew O'Hagan]], in his 1998 [[London Review of Books|LRB]] retrospective, noted that while Turner's fingers had always been light on the keyboard, his writing was "with a strongly human pulse just under the skin, a richness of personal feeling in the blood." |
|
|
|
|
|
''The Telegraph'' noted in its obituary that Turner, over "succeeding decades... produced a stream of books... praised by reviewers; it was said that the author had invented a new kind of book which demonstrated the British genius for tremendous trifles."[ [[Miles Kington]], a fellow journalist intersecting with Turner at ''Punch'' recalls Turner at editorial lunches:{{]quote|"A lot of the writers were rather arrogantly self-effacing… but Ernest always seemed to me like an elder statesman. He knew how to do it. He still does. He would come into those meetings with the most extraordinary ideas. 'Have you noticed the way the French… at those village markets they always have diagrams and suchlike of the human body, always worrying over themselves.' And then he'd be off writing a funny piece. He takes hold of a subject, advertising or boys’ magazines, and he causes you to feel you’ve learned everything there is to know about the subject... And that's not all… his parodies of Betjeman are better than Betjeman.’ |
|
''The Telegraph'' noted in its obituary that Turner, over "succeeding decades... produced a stream of books... praised by reviewers; it was said that the author had invented a new kind of book which demonstrated the British genius for tremendous trifles."[ [[Miles Kington]], a fellow journalist intersecting with Turner at ''Punch'' recalls Turner at editorial lunches:{{blockquote|"A lot of the writers were rather arrogantly self-effacing… but Ernest always seemed to me like an elder statesman. He knew how to do it. He still does. He would come into those meetings with the most extraordinary ideas. 'Have you noticed the way the French… at those village markets they always have diagrams and suchlike of the human body, always worrying over themselves.' And then he'd be off writing a funny piece. He takes hold of a subject, advertising or boys’ magazines, and he causes you to feel you’ve learned everything there is to know about the subject... And that's not all… his parodies of Betjeman are better than Betjeman.’] |
|
|
|
|
|
Some mention is made of political leanings—O'Hagan refers to Turner as "never a left-wing diehard" and as having a "rightwing persona (which was only partly a pose)"[Though, it is said of this re-use, that Turner "was not thought to have been flattered", see ''The Scotsman'' obituary, op. cit. O'Hagan also writes that "when I once asked Ernest how such a liberal classic could be written by someone with his rightwing persona… he growled that he would like to rewrite the book—from the opposite view", see Sales, 1998, ''[[London Review of Books|LRB]]'', op. cit.] |
|
Some mention is made of political leanings—O'Hagan refers to Turner as "never a left-wing diehard" and as having a "rightwing persona (which was only partly a pose)"[Though, it is said of this re-use, that Turner "was not thought to have been flattered", see ''The Scotsman'' obituary, op. cit. O'Hagan also writes that "when I once asked Ernest how such a liberal classic could be written by someone with his rightwing persona… he growled that he would like to rewrite the book—from the opposite view", see Sales, 1998, ''[[London Review of Books|LRB]]'', op. cit.] |
| Line 67: |
Line 67: |
|
Turner met Helen Martin from New York City in the U.S., and they married in 1937 and saw 30 anniversaries;[ they had two daughters, Patricia and Jill.][ Helen died in 1968.][ After his first wife's death, Turner was travelling in [[Samarkand]] doing a travel article for the [[Sunday Telegraph]] and met [[Belfast]]-born Roberta Hewitt, a housing manager, and they married in 1971.][ She, and daughters Patricia and Jill from the marriage to Helen, survived Turner at his death in 2006.] |
|
Turner met Helen Martin from New York City in the U.S., and they married in 1937 and saw 30 anniversaries;[ they had two daughters, Patricia and Jill.][ Helen died in 1968.][ After his first wife's death, Turner was travelling in [[Samarkand]] doing a travel article for the [[Sunday Telegraph]] and met [[Belfast]]-born Roberta Hewitt, a housing manager, and they married in 1971.][ She, and daughters Patricia and Jill from the marriage to Helen, survived Turner at his death in 2006.] |
|
|
|
|
|
A formal man and an Edwardian, Ernest Sackville Turner is said to have "clung to the dignity of his formal style and title":{{quote|"[W]hen his local paper, the ''Richmond and Twickenham Times'', modestly expanded ES to Ernest in a puff for... his final book, the solecism prompted a modest rebuke… in a letter to the editor… [where Turner declared] 'The first-naming of all and sundry is the curse of the age' [and where he] went on to wonder if the paper's then proprietor, David Dimbleby, would care to be known as 'Dave.'"[}}] |
|
A formal man and an Edwardian, Ernest Sackville Turner is said to have "clung to the dignity of his formal style and title":{{blockquote|"[W]hen his local paper, the ''Richmond and Twickenham Times'', modestly expanded ES to Ernest in a puff for... his final book, the solecism prompted a modest rebuke… in a letter to the editor… [where Turner declared] 'The first-naming of all and sundry is the curse of the age' [and where he] went on to wonder if the paper's then proprietor, David Dimbleby, would care to be known as 'Dave.'"[}}] |
|
|
|
|
|
In the 1998 ''[[London Review of Books|LRB]]'' interview, O'Hagan noted, "Sometimes Mr Turner can't think of an answer to one of my questions. But when he sits at the typewriter, and begins to write, great swathes of his story come clean. He would later send me these typed pages. And they sit here in front of me now, covered in shadows of print, and they speak of a man altogether present." |
|
In the 1998 ''[[London Review of Books|LRB]]'' interview, O'Hagan noted, "Sometimes Mr Turner can't think of an answer to one of my questions. But when he sits at the typewriter, and begins to write, great swathes of his story come clean. He would later send me these typed pages. And they sit here in front of me now, covered in shadows of print, and they speak of a man altogether present." |
Like
0
Dislike
0
Love
0
Funny
0
Angry
0
Sad
0
Wow
0
