Graeme Fife (born 1946) is a prolific

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writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

and broadcaster. His first career was as a schoolmaster and university lecturer.

Early life

Born in 1946 in

St Pancras, London St Pancras () is a district in north London. It was originally a medieval ancient parish and subsequently became a metropolitan borough. The metropolitan borough then merged with neighbouring boroughs and the area it covered now forms around ...

, Fife is the son of John Fife and his wife Muriel H. Lickorish. He was educated at schools in

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

and then at the

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charte ...

, where he graduated with first class honours in Greek language and literature.

Teaching career

Fife taught Classics for one year at a school in Lancashire, then from 1970 to 1978 was Head of Classics at

Gresham's School Gresham's School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent Day school, day and boarding school) in Holt, Norfolk, Holt, Norfolk, England, one of the top thirty International Bac ...

Holt Holt or holte may refer to: Natural world *Holt (den), an otter den * Holt, an area of woodland Places Australia * Holt, Australian Capital Territory * Division of Holt, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives in Vic ...

, and later a lecturer in Greek and Roman literature at the University of Reading.

Reception

In July 1999, ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' named Fife's ''Tour de France: The History, the Legend, the Riders'' as its book of the week. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' later ranked it as one of its top five sports books of the year. Reviewing Fife's ''The Terror: the Shadow of the Guillotine'' (2003) in ''The Independent'', William Doyle called it "The most authoritative treatment we are likely to have for many years." In 1997, Fife wrote to ''The Independent'' to correct it on the origin of the word "

clitoris The clitoris ( or ) is a female sex organ present in mammals, ostriches and a limited number of other animals. In humans, the visible portion – the glans – is at the front junction of the labia minora (inner lips), above the ope ...

Publications

As well as books, Fife has written plays, talks, and stories for BBC Radio. His novel ''Angel of the Assassination'' (2009) is a fictionalized account of the life of

Charlotte Corday Marie-Anne Charlotte de Corday d'Armont (27 July 1768 – 17 July 1793), known as Charlotte Corday (), was a figure of the French Revolution. In 1793, she was executed by guillotine for the assassination of Jacobin leader Jean-Paul Marat, who w ...

.Hank H. Cox, ''For Love of a Dangerous Girl'' (Takoma Communications, 2015), p. 120

Books

*''Polly Polestar'' (Ginn & Co., 1989) *''The Wrong Side of the Bed'' (Ginn & Co., 1988) *''Story in anthology: The Man in Black'' (1990) *''Arthur the King: a study of mediaeval romance in its social, literary and historical context'' (BBC Books, 1990, *''George Francis: Trainer of Champions'' (with George Francis, Mainstream, 1998, ) *''Tour de France: the history, the legend, the riders'' (Mainstream, 1999, ) *''Tour de France: Tour de Souffrance'' (translated from the French of Albert Londres, Cycle Sport, 1999) *''Inside the Peloton: Riding, Winning and Losing the Tour de France'' (2001, ) *''The Terror: The Shadow of the Guillotine, France 1792–1794'' (2004, ) *''Bob Chicken: A Passion for the Bike'' (2005, ) *''Great Road Climbs of the Pyrenees'' (Rapha, 2006) *''The Beautiful Machine'' (2007, ) *''Massif Guide to the Great Road Climbs of the Pyrenees'' (2008) *''Angel of the Assassination'' (novel) (Merit, 2009) *''Great Road Climbs of the Southern Alps'' (Rapha, 2010) *''Brian Robinson, Pioneer'' (Mousehold Press 2010) *''Great Road Climbs of the Northern Alps'' (Rapha 2011) *''The Elite Bicycle: a Portrait of the World's Greatest Bicycles'' (2013)

Plays

*''Praise Be to God'' (performed by Edward de Souza Orange Tree, London, 1987) *''Reg'' (performed by Edward de Souza, Orange Tree, 1987) *''The Great French Revolution Show'' (Deia Majorca, 1984) *''Lysistrata by Aristophanes'' (translated and adapted, Deia Majorca, 1984) *''The Silver Nutmeg'' (musical, with Peter Thorne) *''Grimaldi'' (musical drama, with Peter Thorne) *''Once Upon a Time...'' (dramatic song sequence for narrator and singers, with Peter Thorne) *''The Andria'' (translation from The Andria of

Terence Publius Terentius Afer (; – ), better known in English as Terence (), was a Roman African playwright during the Roman Republic. His comedies were performed for the first time around 166–160 BC. Terentius Lucanus, a Roman senator, brought ...

, with Sebastian Eden) (

) *''The Weaker Sex'' (

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

) *''Gesualdo'' (

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

) *Mr Shakespeare...Mr Liebowitz (

Deià Deià is a municipality and small coastal village in the Serra de Tramuntana, which forms the northern ridge of the Spanish island of Mallorca. It is located about north of Valldemossa, and it is known for its literary and musical residents. ...

Majorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...

) *Jam (

Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon un ...

) *The Door (opera)

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Screenplays

*Chavasse Park (''promotional film for architectural development in Liverpool'') *Ghosts of Deptford (''six short films about celebrated denizens of Deptford'')

Radio Scripts

*Elias Howe *Some thirty Stories about composers, Monologues and Duologues *Snipe 3909 *Earth to Earth *Vivaldi *Revolutionary Portraits *The Whisper of the Axe *Arthur the King *La Mogador *The March of the Ten Thousand *The Misfortune at Seaham *A Breath of Fresh Air *Pearls Go with Pearls (script consultant) *Godslots *Surviving Wagner *St Cecilia of Sicilia *Wilf *Cat's Whiskers, six short playlets *The Figaro Letters *The Athenian Trireme *Doggett's Coat and Badge *The Night Stairs *Timbuktu: Drowning in Sand *Vegetarian Cyclists *Bikesongs *Bicycle Music *Saint-Saëns, Samson et Dalila and the Lost Glory *The Fighting Temeraire, The Battle and the Breeze *The Sweetness of the Garden *Spem in Alium *Beau Geste (adapted for R4 Classic Serial) *Robert Graves and Myth R3 Essays *many scripts for ''

Pause for Thought ''Wake Up to Wogan'' (''WUTW'') was the incarnation of ''The Radio 2 Breakfast Show'' that aired each weekday morning from 4 January 1993 to 18 December 2009. It was the most-listened-to radio show in the United Kingdom, and the flagship breakfa ...

Other

*'The View from the Oarbench' in Frank Welsh, ''Building the Trireme'' (Constable, 1988)

Notes

External links

Graemefife.co.uk
personal web site {{DEFAULTSORT:Fife, Graeme John 1946 births English non-fiction writers English radio writers English dramatists and playwrights Alumni of Durham University People educated at Gresham's School Living people Place of birth missing (living people) English male dramatists and playwrights Cycling writers English male non-fiction writers