Talk:Beachcomber (Pen name)

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does anyone know who the current Beachcomber really is? (User:Lee M)

Contents 1 Private Eye 2 Beachcombers in the South Pacific 3 Hijacking of the word 4 What was Orwell's criticism based on? 5 Other uses of Beachcomber

[edit] Private Eye

Couldn't this article do with a link to Private Eye? Richard W.M. Jones 08:17, 22 July 2005 (UTC)

Why? No Beachcomber ever wrote for it an d the only tenuous link is the performances by Wells and Ingrams on the radio shows.62.31.13.100 23:31, 30 November 2005 (UTC)

No, I meant all the references to Ugandan affairs & Chief Justice Cocklecarrot, etc. which appear in Private Eye Richard W.M. Jones 08:45, 1 December 2005 (UTC)

Oh, I see what you mean, yes. I'll have a look at it. 193.138.107.181 12:16, 1 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Beachcombers in the South Pacific

I was a bit surprised to find this meaning of the word stowed away in Other uses. I was under the impression that this was the primary meaning of the word, having lived in New Caledonia and to some extent familliarised myself with its history. I'll add this article to my watchlist and do some research (or have my father do it) on the subject. - GSchjetne 09:23, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Hijacking of the word

I think to centralise the meaning of this world on a column in a newspaper and pointing out that this word can have other meanings is not right. On reading the page was under the impression that this is the only thing this word was used for and that the true meaning of the word itself is lost.

[edit] What was Orwell's criticism based on?

George Orwell acknowledged Morton's skill as a humorist (among "the best comic writers of our time" in Funny Not Vulgar, Leader, Dec 1944).

Elsewhere Orwell is strongly critical of Morton - along with Wyndham Lewis - for championing "reactionary causes" and "conducting endless propaganda against Socialism, The League of Nations and scientific research" (in As I Please, Tribune, 23 June 1944).

Was this criticism based on an interpretation of the "Beachcomber" columns or did Morton write elsewhere about such issues? Are there political columns not included in Ingram's and Frayn's collections? Orwell says Morton & Wyndham Lewis had together championed "Pilsudski, Mussolini, appeasement, flogging, Franco, literary censorship": can this really be found in the goings-on of Strabismus, Cocklecarrot et al?

I've always believed Morton's "Beachcomber" columns were a series of hilarious entertainments, nothing more, but have I missed something? Lyn50

[edit] Other uses of Beachcomber

I removed the section on the other use of the word beachcomber since this article's title now makes it clear we're talking about the pen name only. There is now a disambiguation page at Beachcomber that list this and all other uses. --Cab88 15:59, 22 August 2006 (UTC)