Leonard John Kensell Setright (10 August 1931 – 7 September 2005) was an English
motoring journalist and author.
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Early life and education
Setright was born in London to Australian parents; his father, Henry Roy Setright, was an engineer who invented the
Setright ticket machine used on buses and trams. He died when Setright was 11 years old.
Setright attended
Palmers Green Grammar school before studying law at the
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
which he practised for a time but hated the profession. His
National Service
National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939.
The l ...
was served in the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
as an
air traffic controller.
Writing career
After writing for the engineering magazine ''Machine Age'' in the early 1960s, Setright became a motoring journalist and author, contributing to ''
Car Magazine'' for more than 30 years and writing several books on cars and automotive engineering.
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Setright's writing style polarised readers as some considered it to be pompous and excessively esoteric, while others found his erudite style and engineering knowledge a welcome change from the usual lightweight and largely non-technical journalistic style.
He had a strong enthusiasm for
Bristol Cars
Bristol Cars were manufacturers of hand-built luxury cars headquartered in Bristol, England. After being placed in receivership and being taken over in 2011, it entered liquidation in February 2020.
After the Second World War, the car division ...
and for Japanese engineering, in particular
Honda
is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.
Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...
.
Setright also wrote about music, motorcycles and
high-fidelity sound systems, and contributed to, among others, ''
Punch
Punch commonly refers to:
* Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist
* Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice
Punch may also refer to:
Places
* Pun ...
'', ''
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 ...
'', ''
Bike
A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist.
Bic ...
'', ''Cycle Guide/USA'', ''Motorcycle Sport'' under the initials LJKS, ''
Back Street Heroes
Back Street Heroes (est. 1983) is a monthly UK custom bike magazine that helped to popularize a "new breed" of custom motorcycle, distinct from previous choppers because they combined rat bike-influenced utilitarian and minimalist design with gre ...
'' and ''
Car and Driver''.
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Personal life
Setright was also known for his love of smoking tobacco, in particular
Sobranie Black Russian
Sobranie (russian: Собрание, "Gathering", "Collection", "Assembly") is a brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by Gallaher Group, a subsidiary of Japan Tobacco.
History
The Balkan Sobranie tobacco business was establ ...
cigarettes,
and for his elegant sartorial style. He was described as resembling "a gaunt Old Testament prophet in Savile Row clothes".
He was an accomplished
clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound.
Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...
player.
Setright was a practising
Jew and a scholar of Judaism.
He was married twice; his first wife, Christina, committed suicide in 1980.
After this he spent some time in a
Lubavitch
Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (), is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities. It is one of the largest Hasidic groups ...
community in
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
,
later returning to the UK, and he settled in
Surbiton
Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the historic county of Surrey and since 1965 it has ...
, near London, where he died of cancer in 2005.
List of works
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; Coauthor
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; Editor
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References
1931 births
2005 deaths
People educated at Southgate School
Alumni of University College London
People from Surbiton
Deaths from lung cancer
English Jews
British motoring journalists
Motorcycling writers
Historians of motorsport
Air traffic controllers
{{UK-journalist-stub