Leonard Alfred George Strong (8 March 1896 – 17 August 1958) was a popular English novelist, critic, historian, and poet, and published under the name L. A. G. Strong. He served as a director of the publishers Methuen Ltd. from 1938 to 1958.

Life

Strong was born at Compton Gifford, of an Irish mother, Marion Jane (née Mongan), and a half-Irish father born in the United States, Leonard Ernest Strong (1862/3-1948), a chemical works manager (eventually director of

Fisons Fisons plc was a British multinational pharmaceutical, scientific instruments and horticultural chemicals company headquartered in Ipswich, United Kingdom. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Ind ...

), and was proud of his Irish heritage. His father was a grandson and great-grandson of

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

clergymen educated at

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road. Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Dorothy W ...

. As a youth, Strong considered being a comedian and took lessons in singing. He was educated at

Brighton College Brighton College is an independent, co-educational boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 3 to 18 in Brighton, England. The school has three sites: Brighton College (the senior school, ages 11 to 18); Brighton College Preparatory Sc ...

and earned a scholarship to Wadham College, Oxford, as an Open Classical Scholar (studies in literature and the arts). There, he came under the influence of

W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...

, about whom Strong wrote fairly extensively; they met first in the autumn of 1919 and their friendship lasted for twenty years. Strong taught at an Oxford preparatory school, before becoming a full-time writer in 1930. His first two volumes of poetry were ''Dublin Days'' (1921) and ''The Lowery Road'' (1923), and his career as a novelist was launched with ''Dewer Rides'' (1929, set on Dartmoor). Later, Strong formed a literary partnership with an Irish friend, John Francis Swaine (1880-1954), paying Swaine a percentage of royalties for five novels and numerous short stories, published between about 1930 and 1953, which were attributed to Strong. These included the ''Sea Wall'' (1933), ''The Bay'' (1944), and ''Trevannion'' (1948). Swaine's short stories described the thoughts and experiences of an Irish character, Mangan, a fictional version of Swaine himself. Strong wrote many works of non‐fiction and an autobiography of his early years, ''Green'' ''Memory'' (1961). He gained a wide interest in literature and wrote about many important contemporary authors, including

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where Faulkner spent most of ...

John Millington Synge Edmund John Millington Synge (; 16 April 1871 – 24 March 1909) was an Irish playwright, poet, writer, collector of folklore, and a key figure in the Irish Literary Revival. His best known play ''The Playboy of the Western World'' was poorly r ...

, and

John Masefield John Edward Masefield (; 1 June 1878 – 12 May 1967) was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate from 1930 until 1967. Among his best known works are the children's novels ''The Midnight Folk'' and ''The Box of Delights'', and the poem ...

. He worked as an assistant

schoolmaster The word schoolmaster, or simply master, refers to a male school teacher. This usage survives in British independent schools, both secondary and preparatory, and a few Indian boarding schools (such as The Doon School) that were modelled after B ...

Summer Fields School Summer Fields is a fee-paying boys' independent day and boarding Preparatory school (UK), preparatory school in Summertown, Oxford. It was originally called Summerfield and used to have a subsidiary school, Summerfields, St Leonards-on-Sea (kn ...

, a boys' boarding prep school on the outskirts of Oxford, from 1917 to 1919 and from 1920 to 1930, and as a Visiting Tutor at the

Central School of Speech and Drama The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama was founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as The Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students. It became a ...

. One of his pupils was a son of

Reginald McKenna Reginald McKenna (6 July 1863 – 6 September 1943) was a British banker and Liberal politician. His first Cabinet post under Henry Campbell-Bannerman was as President of the Board of Education, after which he served as First Lord of the Admiral ...

. He was a director of the publishers Methuen Ltd. from 1938 until his death. For many years he was a governor of his old school, Brighton College. Strong's autobiography, ''Green Memory'', published after his death, described his family (including a grandmother in Ireland), his earliest years, his school-days, and his friendships at Wadham College; among them were Yeats and George Moore. Following his death in Guildford, Surrey, a memorial service was held for him at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London, on 3 October 1958. The nurse

Emily MacManus Emily Elvira Primrose MacManus, CBE (18 April 1886 – 22 February 1978) was an Irish nurse who served in France during World War I and later matron at Bristol Royal Infirmary then at Guy's Hospital in London, serving at the latter during World ...

was one of his cousins; he wrote the foreword for her autobiography, ''Fifty Years Of Nursing - Matron of Guy's'' (1956). * John Francis Swaine reference authority the Oxford Companion to English Literature, Ninth Edition, General Editor Professor Dinah Birch. Swaine's papers and manuscripts are lodged with the National Library of Ireland, Dublin.

Writing career

Strong began by writing poetry and published three volumes in the early 1920s. Next, he turned his hand to short stories, and his first collection, ''Doyle's Rock and Other Stories'', was published by

Basil Blackwell Sir Basil Henry Blackwell (29 May 18899 April 1984) was born in Oxford, England. He was the son of Benjamin Henry Blackwell (18491924), founder of Blackwell's bookshop in Oxford, which went on to become the Blackwell family's publishing and booksh ...

in 1925. His first novel, ''Dewer Rides'', appeared in 1929 and was followed by more than twenty more. He also wrote plays, children's books, biography, criticism, and film scripts. His works include

detective novel Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as s ...

s, featuring Detective-Inspector McKay of

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...

, and

horror fiction Horror is a genre of fiction which is intended to frighten, scare, or disgust. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror, which is in the realm of speculative fiction. Literary historian J ...

. Many of his adventure and romance novels were set in Scotland or the West of England. The classic short story "Breakdown", a tale about a married man who has the perfect plan to murder his mistress, and which has a

twist ending Twist may refer to: In arts and entertainment Film, television, and stage * ''Twist'' (2003 film), a 2003 independent film loosely based on Charles Dickens's novel ''Oliver Twist'' * ''Twist'' (2021 film), a 2021 modern rendition of ''Olive ...

, has been reprinted often; it was a favorite of

Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), better known by his stage name Boris Karloff (), was an English actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film ''Frankenstein'' (1931) (his 82nd film) established h ...

. (Unhappy marriages were an occasional theme in his fiction, in works such as ''Deliverance''.) His supernatural stories were often reprinted, as well. Strong was interested in the paranormal, as his

haunted house A haunted house, spook house or ghost house in ghostlore is a house or other building often perceived as being inhabited by disembodied spirits of the deceased who may have been former residents or were otherwise connected with the prope ...

and other horror stories attest, and believed he had seen ghosts and witnessed psychic phenomena.Strong, L. A. G. "Foreword." ''The Psychic Sense'', by Phoebe D. Payne and Laurence J. Bendit. London: Faber and Faber, 1944. One of his earliest writings, ''A Defence of Ignorance'', was the first book sold by Captain Louis Henry Cohn, the founder of House of Books, which specialized in first editions of contemporary writers. Cohn was a New York book collector who of necessity became a bookseller due to the

Wall Street Crash of 1929 The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange colla ...

, and he had Strong's manuscript, a six-page essay, in his collection. Cohn published 200 signed copies of the title, priced at $2.00 each. Some of Strong's poems were set to music by

Arthur Bliss Sir Arthur Edward Drummond Bliss (2 August 189127 March 1975) was an English composer and conductor. Bliss's musical training was cut short by the First World War, in which he served with distinction in the army. In the post-war years he qu ...

. His ''Selected Poems'' appeared in 1931 (first American edition in 1932), and ''The Body's Imperfection: Collected Poems'' in 1957. He also edited anthologies of poetry, sometimes in collaboration with

Cecil Day-Lewis Cecil Day-Lewis (or Day Lewis; 27 April 1904 – 22 May 1972), often written as C. Day-Lewis, was an Irish-born British poet and Poet Laureate from 1968 until his death in 1972. He also wrote mystery stories under the pseudonym of Nicholas Bla ...

. His 1932 novel ''The Brothers'' was filmed in 1947 by the Scottish director David MacDonald; it starred

Patricia Roc Patricia Roc (born Felicia Miriam Ursula Herold; 7 June 1915 – 30 December 2003) was an English film actress, popular in the Gainsborough melodramas such as ''Madonna of the Seven Moons'' (1945) and ''The Wicked Lady'' (1945), though she only m ...

. One reviewer commented, "In a break from tradition, the film substitutes the novel's unhappy ending with an even unhappier one." Strong collaborated on or contributed to such filmscripts as ''Haunted Honeymoon'' (1940; a

Dorothy L. Sayers Dorothy Leigh Sayers (; 13 June 1893 – 17 December 1957) was an English crime writer and poet. She was also a student of classical and modern languages. She is best known for her mysteries, a series of novels and short stories set between th ...

story about

Lord Peter Wimsey Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey (later 17th Duke of Denver) is the fictional protagonist in a series of detective novels and short stories by Dorothy L. Sayers (and their continuation by Jill Paton Walsh). A dilettante who solves mysteries for ...

and Harriet Vane), ''

Mr. Perrin and Mr. Traill ''Mr. Perrin and Mr. Traill'' is a 1948 British drama film directed by Lawrence Huntington and starring Marius Goring, David Farrar, Greta Gynt, Edward Chapman and Raymond Huntley. It is based on the 1911 novel of the same title by Hugh Walpole ...

'' (1948), and '' Happy Ever After'' (1954).

Critical reception

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'' asserted in 1935, "L. A. G. Strong can be counted on for a nostalgic picture of the call of the wild, and spins a good yarn as well." Garrett Mattingly, in '' The Saturday Review'', praises Strong's "clean, muscular prose" and the "astonishing variety of mood and incident" in a review of ''The Seven Arms'', saying that he "treats material which has become familiar, almost conventional, in the literature of the Celtic renascence with a freshness and power which makes it seem completely new and completely his own. ... He has been possessed by his material, and he has, in turn, completely possessed and mastered it." (The review includes a photograph of Strong.) Strong enjoyed describing countrysides. He often dramatized the beginning and flourishing (and at times tragic ending) of romance between young people. For these reasons, among others, his fiction writing was sometimes considered sentimental. This was a quality popular among readers, though not always among those critics who embraced Modernist attitudes, which could be

contemptuous Contempt is a pattern of attitudes and behaviour, often towards an individual or a group, but sometimes towards an ideology, which has the characteristics of disgust and anger. The word originated in 1393 in Old French contempt, contemps, ...

of popular literature and which was a forceful influence at the time. For example, a reviewer of an early novel, ''The Jealous Ghost'' (1930), the "story of an American who goes to visit for the first time his English cousins in the West Highland house where his ancestors had lived," judges that Strong's "feeling for 'the land' seems to be that of a tourist whose sensibilities are fluttered by views and sunsets," but who also concluded that in his talent "lies the possibility of a delicate comedy akin to that of

Jane Austen Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

." Mattingly shows hostility to sentimentalism twice in his review of ''The Seven Arms'' (as his own writing can wax sentimental, perhaps he slightly protests too much, given the romantic qualities he admires), declaring of the heroine, "the splendor of her legend is a romantic figure out of a romantic time but a figure too robust for sentimental tenderness, too vital to be the focus of nostalgic revery" and adding that she is drawn "with sympathy and understanding but without sentimentality or exaggeration." Richard Cordell, reviewing ''The Open Sky'', likewise calls it "an exciting, unsentimental adventure." However, a critic who did care for this quality in Strong's fiction wrote of the 1931 collection ''The English Captain and Other Stories'' that "there is nothing ingenious or fanciful in his writing—which means that the emotion is always preferred before the form, not the form before the emotion; and that, I fear, is uncommon enough in the short stories of today. There is one piece in particular—Mr. Kennedy in Charge—which contains the virtues of all the rest; delicate perception of character, tenderness, vigour, and a sublimation of brute pain. It is a stupendous piece of imaginative writing." Reviewing ''The Buckross Ring and Other Stories of the Strange and Supernatural'', Mario Guslandi writes, "at his best, Strong has an uncanny ability to create gentle, vivid and fascinating stories bound to leave the reader enchanted." Ian McMillan of the ''

Yorkshire Post ''The Yorkshire Post'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper, published in Leeds in Yorkshire, England. It primarily covers stories from Yorkshire although its masthead carries the slogan "Yorkshire's National Newspaper". It was previously owned by ...

'' called the stories "odd and genuinely chilling."

Verse

* ''Dublin Days''. Oxford: B. Blackwell, 1921. * ''By Haunted Stream''. New York: D. Appleton and company, 1924. * ''The Lowery Road''. Oxford: B. Blackwell, 1923. * ''Difficult Love''. Oxford: B. Blackwell, 1927. * ''At Glenan Cross: A Sequence''. Oxford : B. Blackwell, 1928. * ''Northern Light''. London: Victor Gollancz, 1930. * ''Selected Verse''.

Hamish Hamilton Hamish Hamilton Limited was a British book publishing house, founded in 1931 eponymously by the half-Scot half-American Jamie Hamilton (''Hamish'' is the vocative form of the Gaelic Seumas eaning James ''James'' the English form – which was ...

, 1931. * ''Call to The Swan''. London: H. Hamilton, 1936. * ''The Magnolia Tree: Verses''. London: A. P. Tayler, 1953. ("Limited to 100 copies printed privately for the author.") * ''The Body's Imperfection: The Collected Poems of L. A. G. Strong''. London: Methuen, 1957.

Novels

* ''Dewer Rides''. London: Victor Gollancz, 1929. * ''The Jealous Ghost''. New York: A. A. Knopf, 1930. * ''The Garden''. London: Victor Gollancz, 1931. * ''The Brothers''. London: Victor Gollancz, 1932. * '' King Richard's Land: A Tale of the

Peasants' Revolt The Peasants' Revolt, also named Wat Tyler's Rebellion or the Great Rising, was a major uprising across large parts of England in 1381. The revolt had various causes, including the socio-economic and political tensions generated by the Black ...

''. London: J.M. Dent & Sons, 1933. * ''Sea Wall''. London: Victor Gollancz, 1933. * ''Corporal Tune''. New York: A. A. Knopf, 1934. * ''Fortnight South of Skye''. New York, Loring and Mussey, 1935. * ''Mr Sheridan's Umbrella''. Illustrated by

C. Walter Hodges Cyril Walter Hodges (18 March 1909 – 26 November 2004) was an English artist and writer best known for illustrating children's books and for helping to recreate Elizabethan theatre. He won the annual Greenaway Medal for British children's boo ...

. London: T. Nelson & son, 1935. * ''The Seven Arms''. London: Victor Gollancz ; New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1935. * ''The Last Enemy: A Study of Youth''. London: Victor Gollancz, 1936. * ''The Fifth of November''. Illustrated by Jack Matthew. London:

J. M. Dent Joseph Malaby Dent (30 August 1849 – 9 May 1926) was a British book publisher who produced the Everyman's Library series. Early life Dent was born in Darlington in what is now part of the Grade II listed Britannia Inn. After a short and ...

and Sons, Ltd., 1937. (novel about

Guy Fawkes Guy Fawkes (; 13 April 1570 – 31 January 1606), also known as Guido Fawkes while fighting for the Spanish, was a member of a group of provincial English Catholics involved in the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. He was born and educated ...

and the

Gunpowder Plot The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was a failed assassination attempt against King James I by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby who sought ...

) * ''Laughter in the West''. New York: A. A. Knopf, 1937. * ''The Swift Shadow''. London: Victor Gollancz, 1937. * ''The Open Sky''. London: Victor Gollancz, 1939. * ''They Went to the Island''. Illustrated by Rowland Hilder. London: Dent, 1940. * ''House in Disorder''. London: Lutterworth Press, 1941. * ''The Bay''. Philadelphia: J. P. Lippincott company, 1942. * ''Slocombe Dies''. London: Published for the Crime Club by

Collins Collins may refer to: People Surname Given name * Collins O. Bright (1917–?), Sierra Leonean diplomat * Collins Chabane (1960–2015), South African Minister of Public Service and Administration * Collins Cheboi (born 1987), Kenyan middle- ...

, 1942. * ''The Unpractised Heart''. London: Victor Gollancz, 1942. * ''All Fall Down''. London: Published for the Crime Club by

, 1944. Also Garden City, New York: Published for the Crime Club by Doubleday, Doran & Co., 1944. * ''The Director''. London: Methuen, 1944. Reprinted: Oslo: J. Grundt Tanum, 1947. (translated to serve as

English as a foreign or second language English as a second or foreign language is the use of English by speakers with different native languages. Language education for people learning English may be known as English as a second language (ESL), English as a foreign language (EF ...

Norwegian language Norwegian ( no, norsk, links=no ) is a North Germanic language spoken mainly in Norway, where it is an official language. Along with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a dialect continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regio ...

) * ''Othello's Occupation''. London: Published for the Crime Club by

, 1945. Published in the US under the title ''Murder Plays an Ugly Scene'' (see below) * ''Murder Plays an Ugly Scene''. Garden City, New York: Published for the Crime Club by Doubleday, Doran & Co., 1945. * ''Trevannion''. London: Methuen, 1948. (set in the seaside town of Dycer's Bay) * ''Darling Tom and Other Stories''. London: Methuen, 1952. ("Many of these stories have been broadcast.") * ''Which I Never: A Police Diversion''. London: Published for the Crime Club by

, 1950. Also New York: MacMillan, 1952. * ''The Hill of

Howth Howth ( ; ; non, Hǫfuð) is an affluent peninsular village and outer suburb of Dublin, Ireland. The district as a whole occupies the greater part of the peninsula of Howth Head, which forms the northern boundary of Dublin Bay, and includes ...

''. London: Methuen, 1953. * ''Deliverance''. London: Methuen, 1955. * ''Light above the Lake''. London: Methuen, 1958. (posthumous) * ''Treason in the Egg: A Further Police Diversion''. London:

, 1958.

Short story collections

* ''Doyle's Rock and Other Stories''. Oxford: B. Blackwell, 1925. * ''The English Captain and Other Stories''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1931. * ''Don Juan and the Wheelbarrow and Other Stories''. London: Victor Gollancz, 1932. * ''Tuesday Afternoon and Other Stories''. London: Victor Gollancz, 1935. * ''Odd Man In''. Illustrated by Phoebe LeFroy. London: Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, 1939. * ''Sun on the Water and Other Stories''. London: Victor Gollancz, 1940. * ''Travellers: Thirty-one Selected Short Stories''. London: Methuen, 1945. (

James Tait Black Memorial Prize The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Unit ...

) **'The English Captain', 'Storm', 'The Rook', 'Prongs', 'Travellers', 'The Gates', 'The Gurnet', 'The Seal', '"Indian Red"', 'The Galleon', 'The Big Man', 'Death of a Gardener', 'Don Juan and the Wheelbarrow', 'The White Cottage', 'Tuesday Afternoon', 'Snow Caps', 'The Fort', 'Lobsters', 'The Absentee', 'The Imposition', 'The Nice Cup o' Tea', 'A Shot in the Garden', 'West Highland Interlude', 'Mr. Kerrigan and the Tinkers', 'Coming to Tea', 'Here's Something You Won't Put in a Book', 'Tinkers' Road', 'Love', 'Evening Piece', 'On the Pier', 'Sun on the Water'. * ''The Buckross Ring and Other Stories of the Strange and Supernatural'', edited and with an introduction by

Richard Dalby Richard Lawrence Dalby (15 April 1949 – 4 May 2017) was an editor and literary researcher noted for his anthologies of ghost stories. Early life Richard Dalby was born in London on 15 April 1949 to Tom, a publishing editor, and Nancy, an amate ...

. Leyburn, North Yorkshire, England: Tartarus Press, 2009. (hardcover, ) **'Introduction' by Richard Dalby, 'The Buckross Ring', ' "Splidges" ', 'Mr Tookey', 'The Farm', 'Tea at Maggie Reynolds's', 'Breakdown', 'The Gates', 'Crabtree's', 'Death of the Gardener', 'Orpheus', 'Sea Air','Lobsters', 'The Doll', 'Let Me Go', 'Danse Macabre', 'The House That Wouldn't Keep Still', 'Light Above the Lake', 'Afterword: The Short Story'.

Short stories (anthologized)

* "Breakdown," in '' The Forum'', September, 1929, pp. 139–145. Reprinted in: ''Creeps By Night: Chills and Thrills'', edited by

Dashiell Hammett Samuel Dashiell Hammett (; May 27, 1894 – January 10, 1961) was an American writer of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories. He was also a screenwriter and political activist. Among the enduring characters he created are Sam Spade ('' ...

. New York: The John Day Company, 1931; ''And the Darkness Falls'', edited, with an introduction and notes, by Boris Karloff. Cleveland: The World Publishing Company, 1946; and elsewhere. * ''The Big Man''. With a frontispiece by

Tirzah Garwood Eileen Lucy "Tirzah" Garwood (11 April 1908 – 27 March 1951) was a British artist and engraver, a member of the Great Bardfield Artists. The artist Eric Ravilious was her husband from 1930 until his death in 1942. Early life Garwood was bo ...

and a foreword by A. E. Coppard; being no. 6 of the Furnival books. London: W. Jackson, Ltd., 1931. Reprinted in: ''The Fireside Book of Romance'', edited by

Edward Wagenknecht Edward (Charles) Wagenknecht (March 28, 1900 – May 24, 2004) was an American literary critic and teacher who specialized in 19th century American literature. He wrote and edited many books on literature and movies, and taught for many years at ...

. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company Publishers, 1948. (a short story "recounting the infatuation a British woman develops in a German resort hotel for a German guest") * "Don Juan and the Wheelbarrow," in ''John o' London's Weekly'', 11 July 1931; ''The Yale Review'', March 1932. Reprinted in: ''The Best British Short Stories of 1932'', edited by

Edward J. O'Brien Edward Joseph Harrington O'Brien (1890–1941) was a U.S. writer, poet, editor and anthologist. As Edward J. O'Brien, he created a series of annual anthologies containing his selection of the previous year's best short stories by U.S. authors, ...

. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1932. * "Harvest by the Sea, or Mr. Wacksparrow, Mr. Deebles and the Sea-Gull, a Story," in ''The Princess Elizabeth Gift Book, in aid of the Princess Elizabeth of York Hospital for Children'', edited by

Cynthia Asquith Lady Cynthia Mary Evelyn Asquith (née Charteris; 27 September 1887 – 31 March 1960) was an English writer and socialite, known for her ghost stories and diaries.Richard Dalby, ''The Virago Book of Ghost Stories''.Virago, London, , 1987 (p. 23 ...

& Eileen Bigland. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1935. * "A Gift from Christy Keogh," in ''

The Queen's Book of the Red Cross ''The Queen's Book of the Red Cross'' was published in November 1939 in a fundraising effort to aid the Red Cross during World War II. The book was sponsored by Queen Elizabeth, and its contents were contributed by fifty British authors and artis ...

''. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1939. Reprinted in: '' Argosy'', vol. 3 No. 12 (New Series), January 1943. * ''The Doll''. Leeds, England: Salamander Press, 1946. (a tale of witchcraft) * "Let Me Go: A Christmas Ghost Story," in ''

The Strand Magazine ''The Strand Magazine'' was a monthly British magazine founded by George Newnes, composed of short fiction and general interest articles. It was published in the United Kingdom from January 1891 to March 1950, running to 711 issues, though the ...

'', December 1946. Reprinted in: ''The Fireside Book of Ghost Stories'', edited by

. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1947; ''Great Irish Stories of the Supernatural'', edited by Peter Haining. London: Souvenir Press, 1992 (); and elsewhere. * "Danse Macabre," in ''

'', December 1949. Reprinted in: ''A Book of Modern Ghosts'', compiled by Lady Cynthia Asquith. New York, Scribner, 1953; ''Great Irish Tales of Horror: A Treasury of Fear'', edited by Peter Haining. Souvenir Press, 1995; and elsewhere. * "The House That Wouldn't Keep Still," in ''The Third Ghost Book'', edited by Lady Cynthia Asquith. London: James Barrie, 1955. * "The Return," reprinted in: ''A Gallery of Ghosts: An Anthology of Reported Experience'', compiled by Andrew MacKenzie. London: Arthur Barker, 1972. * "The Buckross Ring," reprinted in: ''12 Gothic Tales'', selected and introduced by Richard Dalby. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.

Drama

* ''The Absentee''. London: Methuen, 1939. (one-act play; "a powerful drama of village life, three times broadcast on the National programme" - blurb by Methuen) * ''Trial and Error''. London: Methuen, 1939. (one-act play)

Belles lettres

* ''A Defence of Ignorance''. New York: House of Books, 1932. * ''Common Sense about Poetry''. New York: A. A. Knopf, 1932. * ''A Letter to

''. Published by L. & V. Woolf at Hogarth Press, London, 1932. * ''Life in English Literature: Being, an Introduction for Beginners''. With Monica Redlich. Boston:

Little, Brown, and Company Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emily ...

, 1934. * ''The Hansom Cab and The Pigeons''. London: Printed at the Golden Cockerel Press, 1935. (about

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. Born duri ...

) * "The Novel: Assurances and Perplexities," in ''The Author, Playwright and Composer'', Vol. 45, no. 4 (Summer 1935), pp. 112–15. * ''What is Joyce Doing with the Novel?'' G. Newnes, 1936. (6 pages) Originally published as "James Joyce and the New Fiction," in ''American Mercury'', No. 140, August, 1935, pp. 433–434. * ''Common Sense about Drama''. London: T. Nelson & Sons, 1937. * ''The Man Who Asked Questions: The Story of

Socrates Socrates (; ; –399 BC) was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no te ...

''. London: T. Nelson & Sons, 1937. * ''The Minstrel Boy: A Portrait of Tom Moore''. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1937. * "W. B. Yeats - Ireland's Grand Old Man," in ''The Living Age'', January, 1939, pp. 438–440. * ''English Literature Course''. London: London School of Journalism, 94-? or 195-? 6 volumes. * '' John McCormack: The Story of a Singer''. New York: The Macmillan company, 1941. * ''

''. London: G. Allen & Unwin, 1941. * ''English for Pleasure''. Introduction by Mary Somerville. London: Methuen, 1941. * ''Authorship''. London: R. Ross & co., 1944. * ''An Informal English Grammar''. 2nd ed. London: Methuen, 1944. * ''A Tongue in Your Head''. London, Sir

Isaac Pitman Sir Isaac Pitman (4 January 1813 – 22 January 1897) was a teacher of the :English language who developed the most widely used system of shorthand, known now as Pitman shorthand. He first proposed this in ''Stenographic Soundhand'' in 183 ...

& Sons, 1945. ("About a year ago, the Incorporated Association of Teachers of Speech and Drama ... asked Mr. L. A. G. Strong if he would write a book which would show clearly ... problems relating to the everyday use of our mother speech."—Foreword.) * ''

and Vocal Music''. Oxford, 1946. * ''The Art of the Story''. London, 1947. * ''Maud Cherrill''. London, Parrish, 1949. * ''The Sacred River: An Approach to James Joyce''. New York: Pellegrini & Cudahy, 1951. * ''

''. England, 1952. * ''Personal Remarks''. New York: Liveright Pub. Corp., 1953. * ''The Writer's Trade''. London: Methuen, 1953. * ''Instructions to Young Writers''. London: Museum Press; distributed by Sportshelf, New Rochelle, N.Y., 1958. * "Three Ghosts and Stephen Dedalus." in Penguin New Writings Edition NW22 Penguin, 1944

Autobiography

* ''Green Memory''. London: Methuen, 1961. (posthumous)

History

* ''

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

of Agincourt''. Illustrated by Jack Matthew. London: T. Nelson & Sons, 1937. * ''Shake Hands and Come out Fighting''. London: Chapman and Hall, 1938. (about

Boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

) * ''English Domestic Life During the last 200 Years: an Anthology''. London: G. Allen & Unwin, 1942. * ''Light Through the Cloud''. London: Friends Book Centre, 1946. (about

The Retreat The Retreat, commonly known as the York Retreat, is a place in England for the treatment of people with mental health needs. Located in Lamel Hill in York, it operates as a not for profit charitable organisation. Opened in 1796, it is famous ...

) * ''Sixteen Portraits of People Whose Houses have been Preserved by the National Trust''. Contributed by

Walter Allen Walter Ernest Allen (23 February 1911 – 28 February 1995) was an English literary critic and novelist and one of the Birmingham Group of authors. He is best known for his classic study ''The English Novel: a Short Critical History'' (1951). ...

and others. Illustrated by

Joan Hassall Joan Hassall (3 March 1906 – 6 March 1988) was a wood engraver and book illustrator. Her subject matter ranged from natural history through poetry to illustrations for English literary classics. In 1972 she was elected the first woman Mas ...

. London: Published for the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

by Naldrett Press, 1951. * ''The Story of

Sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

''. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1954. * ''Dr. Quicksilver, 1660-1742: The Life and Times of

Thomas Dover Thomas Dover (1660–1742), sometimes referred to as "Doctor Quicksilver", was an English physician. He is remembered for his common cold and fever medicine Dover's powder, his work with the poor in Bristol, and his privateering voyage alongsid ...

, M. D.'' London: Melrose, 1955. * ''Flying Angel: The Story of the

Missions to Seamen The Mission to Seafarers (formerly The Missions to Seamen) is a Christian welfare charity serving merchant crews around the world. It operates through a global Mission 'family' network of chaplains, staff and volunteers and provides practical, em ...

''. London: Methuen, 1956. * ''The Rolling Road: The Story of Travel on the Roads of Britain and the Development of Public Passenger Transport''. London: Hutchinson, 1956.

References

External links

* * * * Leonard Strong Collection. General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. {{DEFAULTSORT:Strong, Leonard 1896 births 1958 deaths 20th-century English businesspeople 20th-century English poets 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English male writers Academics of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford British male poets English male journalists English male novelists English publishers (people) James Tait Black Memorial Prize recipients People educated at Brighton College Writers from Plymouth, Devon Schoolteachers from Devon