Hunter Davies

Edward Hunter Davies, OBE (born 7 January 1936) is a British author, journalist and broadcaster. He is the author of a number of books, including the only authorised biography of the Beatles.

Early life

Davies was born in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, to Scottish parents. For four years his family lived in Dumfries until Davies was aged 11. Davies has quoted his boyhood hero as being football centre-forward, Billy Houliston, of Davies' then local team, Queen of the South.^[1]

His family moved to Carlisle in England when Davies was 11 and he attended the Creighton School in the city. Davies lived in Carlisle until he moved to study at university. During this time his father, who was a former RAF pay clerk, developed multiple sclerosis and had to retire on medical grounds from a civil service career. Davies joined the sixth form at Carlisle Grammar School and was awarded a place at University College, Durham to read for an honours degree in History, but after his first year he switched to a general arts course. He gained his first writing experience as a student, contributing to the university newspaper, Palatinate. After completing his degree course he stayed on at Durham for another year to gain a teaching diploma.^[2]

Writing career

After he left university, Davies worked as a journalist, and in 1965 he wrote the novel Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush, which was made into a film of the same name. He raised the idea of a biography of the Beatles with Paul McCartney when he met him to discuss the possibility of providing the theme song for the film. McCartney liked the idea of the book because inaccurate information had been published about the group, and he advised him to obtain the approval of Brian Epstein.^[2] He agreed to it and the resulting authorised biography, The Beatles, was published in 1968.

John Lennon mentioned in his 1971 Rolling Stone interview that he considered the book "bullshit", though Lennon at the time was vigorously debunking the Beatle myth and anyone who had helped to create it.^[3]

In 1972 Davies wrote a book about football, The Glory Game, a behind-the-scenes portrait of Tottenham Hotspur. Davies also wrote a column about his daily life in Punch called "Father's Day", presenting himself as a harried paterfamilias. In 1974 he was sent by the Sunday Times to look at a comprehensive school in action. He wrote three articles and then stayed on at the school – Creighton School in Muswell Hill, North London, now part of Fortismere School – to watch and study through a year in its life. The result was a book, the Creighton Report, published in 1976.^[4]

Davies has also written a biography of the fell walker Alfred Wainwright, and many works about the topography and history of the Lake District.

In children's literature, he has written the Ossie, Flossie Teacake and Snotty Bumstead series of novels.

As a ghostwriter, he has worked on the autobiographies of footballers Wayne Rooney, Paul Gascoigne and Dwight Yorke. The Rooney biography led to a successful libel action in 2008 by David Moyes, the manager of his former club, Everton. He has also ghostwritten politician John Prescott's 2008 autobiography, Prezza, My Story: Pulling no Punches.^[5]

He writes a football column for the New Statesman,.^[6] A compilation of these articles was released as a book, The Fan, in 2005 by Pomona Press. Davies writes "Confessions of a Collector" in The Guardian's Weekend colour magazine.^[7] He has written a book about his collections with the same title.

Davies was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2014 Birthday Honours for services to literature.^[8]

Football fan

Davies has stated that the first football team he supported was Queen of the South, when he lived in Dumfries.^[1]

After moving to Carlisle aged 11, Davies next adopted English Football League club Carlisle United.^[9] He is vice president of the Carlisle United Supporters' Club London Branch.

A long-term resident of London, Davies' third adopted team is Tottenham Hotspur.^[10] In international football Davies supports Scotland.^[11]

Personal life

Davies was married to the writer Margaret Forster from 1960^[12] until her death in 2016. Their daughter Caitlin Davies is also an author. From 1963 they lived in the north London district of Dartmouth Park.^[13][14]

During the summer months they lived in their second home near Loweswater in the Lake District.^[15] It was sold in July 2016. His autobiography The Beatles, Football and Me was published in 2007.^[2]

Selected works

• Here We Go, Round the Mulberry Bush, 1st Edition (1965), Little, Brown & Co. ISBN B00005XFOZ
• The Beatles: The Authorised Biography, 1st Edition (1968), McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-015457-0
• The Beatles, Revised Edition (1978), McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-015463-5
• The Beatles, 2nd Revised Edition (1986), McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-015526-7
• The Creighton Report: A Year in the Life of a Comprehensive School, (1976), Hamish Hamilton. ISBN 0-241-89412-3.
• Wainwright: The Biography (1995), Michael Joseph Ltd. ISBN 0-7181-3909-7
• A Walk Round The Lakes, (2000), Orion. ISBN 0-7528-3390-1
• The Quarrymen, (2001), Omnibus. ISBN 0-7119-8526-X.
• Confessions of a Collector, (2009), Quercus. ISBN 978-1-84724-604-2.
• The Beatles Lyrics, (2014), Little, Brown & Co. ISBN 978-0-316-24716-0.

Additional bibliography

• The Other Half
• The New London Spy (1966)
• The Rise and Fall of Jake Sullivan
• I Knew Daisy Smuten
• A Very Loving Couple
• Body Change
• A Walk Along the Wall
• George Stephenson
• William Wordsworth
• The Grades
• Father's Day
• A Walk Along the Tracks
• Great Britain: A Celebration
• Flossie Teacake's Fur Coat
• Snotty Bumstead Collection
• A Walk Around London's Parks
• A Good Guide to the Lakes
• The Joy of Stamps
• Back in the U.S.S.R.
• Beatrix Potter's Lakeland
• My Life in Football
• In Search of Columbus
• Striker
• Hunting People
• The Teller of Tales
• Living on the Lottery
• Born 1900: A Human History of the Twentieth Century – For Everyone Who Was There.^[16]
• Come on, Ossie! Illustrated by Malou Bonicos
• Ossie the Millionaire Illustrated by Malou Bonicos
• Ossie goes Supersonic Illustrated by Malou Bonicos
• Book of British Lists

References

External links

• Journalisted – Articles by Hunter Davies