George Tremlett

George William Tremlett (born 1939)^[1] is a British author, bookshop owner, and former politician.

Writing

According to his own mini-biography, after leaving King Edward VI School Stratford-upon-Avon Tremlett worked for the Coventry Evening Telegraph from 1957 as a TV columnist and pop music reviewer.^[2] In 1961 he became a freelance rock journalist and in the 1970s he wrote a series of "cut-'n-paste" paperback pop books, including "The David Bowie Story".^[3][4] He was Bowie's first biographer.^[5]

He is a biographer of Dylan Thomas and his wife Caitlin.^[6] He interviewed Caitlin at her home in Catania for the book "Caitlin: Life with Dylan Thomas" (New York, 1987).^[7] He has argued that Thomas was "the first rock star."^[8] In 1997 he published a book with James Nashold, "The Death of Dylan Thomas", that claimed that Dylan Thomas' death was not due to alcohol poisoning but rather a mistake by Thomas' physician in prescribing cortisone, morphine and benzedrine when Thomas was actually in a diabetic coma.^[9]

He now runs the Corran Bookshop in Laugharne, "a shrine to the poet", after moving to the town in 1982.^[6][10][11] The shop also offers tourist information and was nominated for the Carmarthenshire Business Awards in 2005.^[12]

Politics

He was a Conservative member for Twickenham on the Greater London Council. He served as head of Housing Policy under Horace Cutler and was Deputy Leader at one time. He opposed its abolition against the view of his own party, and was forced to resign from the GLC group due to this.^[13][14] Tremlett wrote in the Morning Star that "During her first premiership, Mrs. Thatcher became obsessed with Ken Livingstone; she regarded him as a danger to the state. It was she who committed the Conservative Party to the abolition of the GLC by personally writing that commitment into the general election manifesto."^[15][16]

In 1979 he wrote "Living Cities", a book critical of Conservative party housing policy.^[17][18]

Personal life

His wife Jane is an independent County Councillor.^[19] They have a son, Jack.^[12]

References