Roy Lewis

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Roy Lewis (6 November 1913 – 1996) was an English writer.

[edit] Life and work

Lewis was born in Felixstowe and attended Oxford University, earning his BA in 1934, and went on to study at the London School of Economics. He began his career as an economist, but after serving as an editor on the journal, Statist, he became interested in journalism. He took a sabbatical in 1938 to travel to Australia and India. He married Christine Tew in 1939, after returning to England. They had two daughters.

From 1943 to 1946, he worked for the Peking Syndicate, a firm specializing in investments in China, but left to work as a journalist for the weekly, Scope. Hired by the Economist magazine, he served as its Washington, DC correspondent from 1952 to 1961. He returned to England in 1961, where he became a feature writer for The Times, remaining with the newspaper until he retired in 1971.

The majority of Lewis' books were nonfiction and closely related to his journalism. However, he is best known for his 1960 novel, What We Did to Father, which was republished in 1963 as The Evolution Man and again in 1968 as Once Upon an Ice Age. This comic novel purports to be a first-hand account by the son of the first man to discover fire. Instead of celebrating such a pivotal event in the progress of man, Lewis' narrator comes to see the development as a very destructive and disruptive force. To prevent further "advances", the family takes matters in hand, leading to a conclusion telegraphed by the French title of the book, Pourquoi j'ai mangé mon père (translation: Why I Ate My Father).

Lewis was also interested in young or unrecognised poets. He started his own small press, Keepsake Press, and published poets including Gavin Ewart and Edward Lowbury.

[edit] Bibliography

  • Shall I Emigrate? (1948)
  • The English Middle Class (1949)
  • The Visitor's Book (1950)
  • Professional People (1952)
  • Sierra Leone: A Modern Portrait (1954)
  • Boss: The Life and Times of the British Business Man (1958)
  • What We Did to Father (1960)
  • The Managers (1961)
  • The British in Africa (1971)
  • A Force for the Future: The Role of the Police in the Next Ten Years (1976)
  • Enoch Powell (1979)
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