George William Tremlett (September 5, 1939 – October 30, 2021) was an English author, bookshop owner, and politician.

Writing

According to his own mini-biography, after leaving

King Edward VI School, Stratford-upon-Avon The Grammar School of King Edward VI at Stratford-upon-Avon (commonly referred to as King Edward VI School or shortened to K.E.S.) is a grammar school and academy in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England, traditionally for boys only. However ...

Tremlett worked for the '' Coventry Evening Telegraph'' from 1957 as a TV columnist and pop music reviewer. In 1961 he became a freelance rock journalist and in the 1970s he wrote a series of superficial paperback pop books, including ''The David Bowie Story'', the first biography about the musician. In the early 1990s, he also published a rather flattering biography of former Libyan leader

Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...

. He was a biographer of

Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Under ...

and his wife

Caitlin Caitlin () is a female given name of Irish origin. Historically, the Irish name Caitlín was anglicized as Cathleen or Kathleen. In the 1970s, however, non-Irish speakers began pronouncing the name according to English spelling rules as , which ...

. He interviewed Caitlin at her home in Catania for the book ''Caitlin: Life with Dylan Thomas'' (New York, 1987). He has argued that Thomas was "the first rock star." 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, Milton Feltenstein, who prescribed cortisone, morphine and

benzedrine Amphetamine (contracted from alpha- methylphenethylamine) is a strong central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is used in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), narcolepsy, and obesity. It is also commonly used a ...

which put the poet into a coma prior to his being transferred to St. Vincent's Hospital. It was found at the hospital by two interns (William McVeigh and Frank Gilbertson) that Thomas had been suffering from pneumonia as well as the effects of the extraordinary air pollution in New York City at the time. Tremlett moved to Laugharne, where Thomas spent the last years of his life, in 1982 and runs the Corran Bookshop, "a shrine to the poet." The shop also offers tourist information and was nominated for the Carmarthenshire Business Awards in 2005. Tremlett died aged 82 at his home in Laurgharne on October 30, 2021.

Politics

He was a Conservative

member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

for Twickenham on the

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

. He served as head of Housing Policy under

Horace Cutler Sir Horace Walter Cutler (28 July 1912 – 2 March 1997) was a British Conservative politician who served as leader of the Greater London Council from 1977 to 1981. He was noted for his showmanship and flair for publicity and was, in several way ...

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 owing to this disagreement. Tremlett wrote in the ''

Morning Star Morning Star, morning star, or Morningstar may refer to: Astronomy * Morning star, most commonly used as a name for the planet Venus when it appears in the east before sunrise ** See also Venus in culture * Morning star, a name for the star Siri ...

'' 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." His work as head of housing policy was profiled in the sixth episode of the first BBC series

The Secret History of Our Streets ''The Secret History of Our Streets'' is a BBC documentary series that examined the social history of streets. It was a co-production between the BBC and The Open University. The first series showed how London has changed since Charles Booth' ...

(Arnold Circus). In 1979 he wrote ''Living Cities'', a book critical of Conservative party housing policy.

Personal life

His wife Jane is an independent County Councillor. He has three sons, Ben, Jack, Huw and Peter, and a daughter, Caroline.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tremlett, George 1939 births 2021 deaths English biographers English booksellers English music journalists Members of the Greater London Council Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at King Edward VI School, Stratford-upon-Avon People from Carmarthenshire