Charles Benjamin Purdom (15 October 1883 – 8 July 1965) was a British author, drama critic,
town planner
An urban planner (also known as town planner) is a professional who practices in the field of town planning, urban planning or city planning.
An urban planner may focus on a specific area of practice and have a title such as city planner, town ...
, and economist. He was one of the pioneers and founders of the first
garden cities,
Letchworth
Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is noted for being the first garden city. The population at the time of the 2011 census was 33,249.
Letchworth ...
and
Welwyn Garden City
Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first new towns (designated 1948). It is unique in being both a garden city and a new town and ...
, the latter of which he was appointed Finance Director between 1919–1928. He was then made Honorary Secretary, then Treasurer of the
International Federation for Housing and Planning
The International Federation for Housing and Planning (IFHP) is a world-wide network of professionals founded in England representing the broad field of housing and planning. Its membership is drawn from corporate organisations, professional ind ...
(1931–1935). He was also founder of the Letchworth and Welwyn Garden City Theatre Society, now the Welwyn Drama Club. He won the Howard Walden cup at the Welwyn Garden City Drama Festival and the
David Belasco
David Belasco (July 25, 1853 – May 14, 1931) was an American theatrical producer, impresario, director, and playwright. He was the first writer to adapt the short story ''Madame Butterfly'' for the stage. He launched the theatrical career of m ...
cup in New-York in 1927. He was an author of many books on city development, on
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
and
Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...
plays,
Harley Granville-Barker
Harley Granville-Barker (25 November 1877 – 31 August 1946) was an English actor, director, playwright, manager, critic, and theorist. After early success as an actor in the plays of George Bernard Shaw, he increasingly turned to directi ...
, and on producing plays. He was editor of an English literary periodical called ''
Everyman
The everyman is a stock character of fiction. An ordinary and humble character, the everyman is generally a protagonist whose benign conduct fosters the audience's identification with them.
Origin
The term ''everyman'' was used as early as ...
'', covering books, drama, music and travel and featured articles by renowned authors such as
Ivor Brown
Ivor John Carnegie Brown CBE (25 April 1891 – 22 April 1974) was a British journalist and man of letters.
Biography
Born in Penang, Malaya, Brown was the younger of two sons of Dr. William Carnegie Brown, a specialist in tropical diseases, ...
,
Arthur Machen
Arthur Machen (; 3 March 1863 – 15 December 1947) was the pen-name of Arthur Llewellyn Jones, a Welsh author and mystic of the 1890s and early 20th century. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. Hi ...
,
G. K. Chesterton
Gilbert Keith Chesterton (29 May 1874 – 14 June 1936) was an English writer, philosopher, Christian apologist, and literary and art critic. He has been referred to as the "prince of paradox". Of his writing style, ''Time'' observed: "Wh ...
,
A. E. Coppard, and
Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ...
. He was General Secretary of British Equity (1939–1940) and joint secretary of the London Theatre Council. He was also the earliest biographer of
Meher Baba
Meher Baba (born Merwan Sheriar Irani; 25 February 1894 – 31 January 1969) was an Indian spiritual master who said he was the Avatar, or God in human form, of the age. A major spiritual figure of the 20th century, he had a following of ...
. He was father of the actor
Edmund Purdom
Edmund Anthony Cutlar Purdom (19 December 19241 January 2009) was an English actor, voice artist, and director. He worked first on stage in Britain, performing various works by Shakespeare, then in America on Broadway and in Hollywood, and event ...
. He died in
Welwyn Garden City
Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first new towns (designated 1948). It is unique in being both a garden city and a new town and ...
in 1965.
First biographer of Meher Baba
Purdom was a devoted follower of the
Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
silent teacher
Meher Baba
Meher Baba (born Merwan Sheriar Irani; 25 February 1894 – 31 January 1969) was an Indian spiritual master who said he was the Avatar, or God in human form, of the age. A major spiritual figure of the 20th century, he had a following of ...
after meeting him in
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
, England on Baba's first visit to the West in 1931.
[''The Awakener Magazine'', Fall 1955, Vol. III, No. 2] Purdom was Meher Baba's original biographer, writing ''The Perfect Master: The Early Life of Meher Baba'' in 1937, which covers Meher Baba's life from 1911–1936, and ''The God Man: The Life, Journeys & Work of Meher Baba with an Interpretation of His Silence & Spiritual Teaching'' in 1964. He also wrote an early single-volume edition of Meher Baba's
discourses titled ''God to Man and Man to God: The Discourses of Meher Baba'' (1955) and with author Malcolm Schloss co-wrote a detailed account of a group visit with Meher Baba in India titled ''Three Incredible Weeks with Meher Baba''.
Selected publications
* ''The Garden City: A Study of the Development of a Modern Town'', J.M. Dent & Sons, London, 1913
* ''The Building of Satellite Towns: A Contribution to the Study of Town Development and Regional Planning'', J.M. Dent & Sons, London, 1925
* ''The Swan Shakespeare; a Player's Edition – 3 Volumes '', J.M. Dent & Sons, London, 1930
* ''Producing Plays: a handbook for producers & players'', J.M. Dent, London 1930
* ''Everyman at War. Sixty Personal Narratives of the War'', (Selected from ''Everyman Magazine''), Dutton, New York, 1930 and J.M. Dent, London, 1939
* ''The Perfect Master: The Life of Shri Meher Baba'', (Meher Baba's life from 1911–1936), Williams & Norgate Ltd, London, 1937. Reprinted as ''Perfect Master, The Early Life of Meher Baba'', by Sheriar Press USA in 1976
* ''The New Order'', J.M. Dent and Sons Ltd, 1941
* ''How Shall We Rebuild London?'', J.M. Dent, London, 1946
* ''Economic Wellbeing'', Nicholson and Watson, 1947
* ''Producing Shakespeare'', Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, London, 1950
* ''Life Over Again'' (Autobiography), J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd., London, 1951
* ''Drama Festivals and Their Adjudication; a Handbook for Producers, Actors, Festival Organisers, and Adjudicators'', J.M. Dent and Sons Ltd., London, 1951
* ''Harley Granville Barker: Man of the Theatre, Dramatist, and Scholar'', Salisbury Square, 1955
* ''God to Man and Man to God: The Discourses of Meher Baba'', Victor Gollancz Ltd., London, 1955
* ''Bernard Shaw's Letters to Granville Barker'', Phoenix House, London, 1956
* ''A Guide to the Plays of Bernard Shaw'', Methuen & Co. Ltd, London, 1963
* ''The Letchworth Achievement'', J.M. Dent & Sons, 1963
* ''What Happens in Shakespeare: a New Interpretation'', John Baker Publ., London, 1963
* ''The God-Man: The Life, Journeys & Work of Meher Baba with an Interpretation of His Silence & Spiritual Teaching'', George Allen & Unwin, London, 1964
* ''Three Incredible Weeks with Meher Baba: 11–30 September 1954'', Sheriar Press, Myrtle Beach, 1979
References
External links
Charles Purdom at meherbabatravels.com''Divine Drama, the Valiant Life of Charles B. Purdom''*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Purdom, Charles
1883 births
1965 deaths
British theatre critics
English biographers
English economists
Followers of Meher Baba
General Secretaries of Equity (trade union)