Laurence Edward Alan "Laurie" Lee,

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(26 June 1914 – 13 May 1997) was an English

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

and screenwriter, who was brought up in the small village of

Slad Slad is a village in Gloucestershire, England, in the Slad Valley about from Stroud on the B4070 road from Stroud to Birdlip. Slad is notable for being the home and final resting place of Laurie Lee, whose novel ''Cider with Rosie'' (1959) ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

. His most notable work is the autobiographical trilogy ''

Cider with Rosie ''Cider with Rosie'' is a 1959 book by Laurie Lee (published in the US as ''Edge of Day: Boyhood in the West of England'', 1960). It is the first book of a trilogy that continues with ''As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning'' (1969) and '' A ...

'' (1959), ''

As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning ''As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning'' (1969) is a memoir by Laurie Lee, a British poet. It is a sequel to '' Cider with Rosie'' which detailed his early life in Gloucestershire after the First World War. In this sequel Lee leaves the secur ...

'' (1969), and '' A Moment of War'' (1991). The first volume recounts his childhood in the Slad Valley. The second deals with his leaving home for London and his first visit to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

in 1935, and the third with his return to Spain in December 1937 to join the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

International Brigades The International Brigades ( es, Brigadas Internacionales) were military units set up by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The organization existed f ...

Early life and works

Having been born in

Stroud Stroud is a market town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is the main town in Stroud District. The town's population was 13,500 in 2021. Below the western escarpment of the Cotswold Hills, at the meeting point of the Five ...

on 26 June 1914, Laurie Lee moved with his family to the village of Slad in 1917, the move with which ''Cider with Rosie'' opens. After fighting in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

with the

Royal West Kent Regiment The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army based in the county of Kent in existence from 1881 to 1961. The regiment was created on 1 July 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms, originally as the Quee ...

, Lee's father, Reginald Joseph Lee, did not return to the family. Lee and his brothers grew up loving the Lights, the family of their mother (Annie Emily Light), and intensely disliking their Lee relations. His sister, Frances Nemariah Joan Lee, died in 1915 aged three when Lawrence Lee was a toddler. He had older siblings from his father's first marriage: Dorothy, Harold, Reggie, Phyllis, and Marjorie, and two brothers from his parents' marriage, Jack and Tony. His brother Jack Lee (born 1913) was to become a film director. At 12, Lee went to the Central Boys' School in Stroud. In his notebook for 1928, when he was 14, he listed "Concert and Dance Appointments", for at this time he was in demand to play his violin at dances. Lee left the Central School at 15 to become an errand boy at a Chartered Accountants in Stroud. In 1931, he first found the

Whiteway Colony Whiteway Colony is a residential community in the Cotswolds in the parish of Miserden near Stroud, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom. The community was founded in 1898 by Tolstoyans and today has no spare land available with over sixty homes and 1 ...

, two miles from Slad, a colony founded by

Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

an anarchists. This gave him his first smattering of politicisation and was where he met the composer

Benjamin Frankel Benjamin Frankel (31 January 190612 February 1973) was a British composer. His best known pieces include a cycle of five string quartets, eight symphonies, and concertos for violin and viola. He was also notable for writing over 100 film scores ...

and the "Cleo" who appears in ''As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning''. In 1933 he met Sophia Rogers, an "exotically pretty girl with dark curly hair" who had moved to Slad from

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, an influence on Lee who said later in life that he only went to Spain because "a girl in Slad from Buenos Aires taught me a few words of Spanish." At 20, Lee worked as an office

clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...

and a builder's

labourer A laborer (or labourer) is a person who works in manual labor types in the construction industry workforce. Laborers are in a working class of wage-earners in which their only possession of significant material value is their labor. Industries e ...

, and lived in London for a year before leaving for

Vigo Vigo ( , , , ) is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality in the province of Pontevedra, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Penins ...

, in northwest Spain, in the summer of 1935. From there he travelled across Spain as far as Almuñecar on the coast of

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

. Walking more often than not, he eked out a living by playing his violin. His first encounter with Spain is the subject of ''As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning'' (1969). During this period he met a woman, Wilma Gregory, who supported him financially, and also met

Mary Garman Mary Margaret Garman Campbell (1898–1979) was the eldest of seven sisters known for their glamorous, bohemian lifestyles and their many love affairs with famous artists, writers, and musicians of interwar London. She was a member of the Bloom ...

and Roy Campbell. After the outbreak of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

in July 1936 Lee was picked up by HMS ''Blanche'', a British

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

from

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

that was collecting marooned British subjects on the southern Spanish coast. Lee started to study for an art degree but returned to Spain in 1937 as an

International Brigade The International Brigades ( es, Brigadas Internacionales) were military units set up by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The organization existed f ...

volunteer. His service in the Brigade was cut short by his

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrical ...

. These experiences were recounted in ''A Moment of War'' (1991), an austere memoir of his time as a volunteer in the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). According to many biographical sources, Lee fought in the Republican army against

Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ref ...

's Nationalists. After his death there were claims that Lee's involvement in the war was a fantasy; the claims were dismissed as "ludicrous" by his widow. Lee met Lorna Wishart (sister of Mary) in Cornwall in 1937, and they had an affair (Lorna was married) lasting until she left him for

Lucian Freud Lucian Michael Freud (; 8 December 1922 – 20 July 2011) was a British painter and draughtsman, specialising in figurative art, and is known as one of the foremost 20th-century English portraitists. He was born in Berlin, the son of Jewis ...

in 1943. They had a daughter,

Yasmin David Yasmin David (1939–2009) was a British landscape painter. She was the daughter of Lorna Garman Wishart and Laurie Lee. Many of her works were only exhibited posthumously. She lived in Luscombe in Devon Devon ( , historically known as ...

, together. Wishart's husband Ernest agreed to raise the girl as his own; she later became an artist. Before 1951 Lee worked primarily as a journalist and as a scriptwriter. During the Second World War he made documentary films for the

GPO Film Unit The GPO Film Unit was a subdivision of the UK General Post Office. The unit was established in 1933, taking on responsibilities of the Empire Marketing Board Film Unit. Headed by John Grierson, it was set up to produce sponsored documentary films ...

(1939–40) and the

Crown Film Unit The Crown Film Unit was an organisation within the British Government's Ministry of Information during the Second World War. Formerly the GPO Film Unit it became the Crown Film Unit in 1940. Its remit was to make films for the general public in ...

(1941–1943). From 1944 to 1946 he worked as the Publications Editor for the Ministry of Information.Lyman, Rick.
Poet Laurie Lee Dies at 82.
" ''The New Straits Times,'' 20 May 1997. In 1950 Lee married Catherine Francesca Polge, whose father was Provençal and whose mother was another of the Garman sisters, Helen; they had one daughter, Jessie. From 1950 to 1951 he was caption-writer-in-chief for the

Festival of Britain The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair that reached millions of visitors throughout the United Kingdom in the summer of 1951. Historian Kenneth O. Morgan says the Festival was a "triumphant success" during which people: ...

, for which service he was made a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 1952. The success of the autobiographical novel ''Cider with Rosie'' in 1959 allowed Lee to become a full-time independent writer. It continues to be one of the UK's most popular books, and is often used as a set

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

text for schoolchildren. The work depicts the hardships, pleasures and simplicity of rural life in the time of Lee's youth; readers continue to find the author's portrayal of his early life vivid and evocative. Lee said that the creation of the book took him two years, and that it was written three times. With the proceeds Lee was able to buy a cottage in Slad, the village of his childhood.

Poetry

Lee's first love was always poetry, though he was only moderately successful as a poet. Lee's poems had appeared in the ''

Gloucester Citizen The ''Gloucester Citizen'' is a local British weekly newspaper covering the areas of Gloucester, Stroud and the Forest of Dean. It was a six-day-a-week newspaper until it went weekly in October 2017. The ''Gloucester Citizen'' is headquartered ...

'' and the ''

Birmingham Post The ''Birmingham Post'' is a weekly printed newspaper based in Birmingham, England, with a circulation of 2,545 and distribution throughout the West Midlands. First published under the name the ''Birmingham Daily Post'' in 1857, it has had a s ...

'', and in October 1934 his poem 'Life' won a prize from, and publication in, the ''

Sunday Referee The ''Sunday Referee'' was a Sunday newspaper in the United Kingdom, founded in 1877 as ''The Referee'', primarily covering sports news. In the 1930s, considerable money was invested in an attempt to compete with the leading Sunday newspapers, an ...

'', a national paper. Another poem was published in

Cyril Connolly Cyril Vernon Connolly CBE (10 September 1903 – 26 November 1974) was an English literary critic and writer. He was the editor of the influential literary magazine ''Horizon'' (1940–49) and wrote '' Enemies of Promise'' (1938), which combin ...

's ''

Horizon The horizon is the apparent line that separates the surface of a celestial body from its sky when viewed from the perspective of an observer on or near the surface of the relevant body. This line divides all viewing directions based on whether i ...

'' magazine in 1940 and his first volume of poems, ''The Sun My Monument,'' was published in 1944. This was followed by ''The Bloom of Candles'' (1947) and ''My Many-coated Man'' (1955). Several poems written in the early 1940s reflect the atmosphere of the war, but also capture the beauty of the English countryside. The poem "Twelfth Night" from ''My Many-coated Man'' was set for unaccompanied mixed choir by American composer

Samuel Barber Samuel Osmond Barber II (March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American composer, pianist, conductor, baritone, and music educator, and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century. The music critic Donal Henahan said, "Proba ...

in 1968.

Other works

Other works include ''A Rose for Winter,'' about a trip he made to

15 years after the civil war; ''Two Women'' (1983), a story of Lee's courtship of and marriage to Kathy, daughter of Helen Garman; ''The Firstborn'' (1964), about the birth and childhood of their daughter Jessy (christened Jesse); and ''I Can't Stay Long'' (1975), a collection of occasional writing. Lee also wrote travel books, essays, radio plays and short stories. He wrote for British Transport Films 'Journey into Spring'.

Honours and awards

Lee received several awards, including the Atlantic Award (a Canadian literary award (1944), the

Society of Authors The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to protect the rights and further the interests of authors. , it represents over 12,000 members and as ...

travelling award (1951), the William Foyle Poetry Prize (1956) and the W. H. Smith and Son Award (1960). In ''As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning,'' Lee writes of his stay in

Almuñécar Almuñécar () is a Spanish city and municipality located in the southwestern part of the comarca of the Costa Granadina, in the province of Granada. It is located on the shores of the Mediterranean sea and borders the Granadin municipalities of O ...

, a Spanish fishing village which he calls "Castillo". In 1988 the citizens of Almuñécar erected a statue in Lee's honour. In 1993, ''A Moment of War'' was chosen as a Notable Book of the Year by the editors of

the New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

. Lee provided a great deal of valuable support to the

Brotherhood of Ruralists The Brotherhood of Ruralists is a British art group founded in 1975 in Wellow, Somerset, to paint nature. Their work is figurative with a strong adherence to 'traditional' skills. Painting in oil and watercolour predominate, with mixed media asse ...

in their attempts to establish themselves in the 1970s, and he continued to do so until his death; his essay ''Understanding the Ruralists'' opened the Brotherhood's major 1993 retrospective book. Indeed, it was Lee who is said to have given them the name "Ruralists." In 2003 the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

acquired Lee's original manuscripts, letters and diaries. The collection includes two unknown plays and drafts of ''Cider with Rosie,'' which reveal that early titles for the book were ''Cider with Poppy,'' ''Cider with Daisy'' and ''The Abandoned Shade.''

Final years

upLaurie Lee's grave within the village churchyard. The inscription reads ''"He lies in the valley he loved"'' In the 1960s, Lee and his wife returned to Slad to live near his childhood home, where they remained for the rest of his life, though for many years he retained a flat in Chelsea, coming to London to work during the week and returning to Slad at weekends. Lee revealed on the BBC1 ''

Wogan ''Wogan'' is a British television talk show which was broadcast on BBC1 from 1982 until 1992, presented by Terry Wogan. It was usually broadcast live from the BBC Television Theatre in Shepherd's Bush, London, until 1991. It was then broadcast ...

'' show in 1985 that he was frequently asked by children visiting Slad as part of their

O-Level The O-Level (Ordinary Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education. It was introduced in place of the School Certificate in 1951 as part of an educational reform alongside the more in-depth ...

study of ''Cider with Rosie'' "where Laurie Lee was buried", assuming that the author was dead. An archive recording of Lee's voice was used for the narration of the

Carlton Television Carlton Television (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties from 9.25am every Monday to 5.15pm every Friday. The company is now managed with London Weekend Televi ...

film ''

'' (1998), which was first broadcast after his death. The screenplay was written by his friend

John Mortimer Sir John Clifford Mortimer (21 April 1923 – 16 January 2009) was a British barrister, dramatist, screenwriter and author. He is best known for novels about a barrister named Horace Rumpole. Early life Mortimer was born in Hampstead, London, ...

. Laurie Lee died in Slad on 13 May 1997, at the age of 82. He is buried in the local churchyard.

Works

Books

*''Land at War'' (1945) *''We Made a Film in Cyprus'' (1947), with

Ralph Keene Ralph Keene (1902–1963) was an Indian-born British screenwriter, producer and film director. He is generally known for his work on documentaries. Following the Second World War he shot a number of non-fiction films outside Britain including in ...

*''An Obstinate Exile'' (1951) *''A Rose for Winter: Travels in Andalusia'' (1955) *''Man Must Move: The Story of Transport'' (with David Lambert, 1960); published in the US as ''The Wonderful World of Transportation'' (1960) – for children *''The Firstborn'' (1964) *''I Can't Stay Long'' (1975) *''Innocence in the Mirror'' (1978) *''Two Women'' (1983)

Autobiographical Trilogy

*''

'' (1959); published in the US as ''The Edge of Day'' (1960) *''

'' (1969) *'' A Moment of War'' (1991)

Poetry

*''The Sun My Monument'' (The Hogarth Press, 1944) *''The Bloom of Candles: Verse from a Poet's Year'' (John Lehmann, 1947) *''My Many-Coated Man'' (André Deutsch, 1955) *''The Pocket Poets Laurie Lee'' (1960) *''Selected Poems'' (Penguin Books, 1983)

Recordings

* Laurie Lee reading 'Cider with Rosie' complete and unabridged. ISIS audio books 1988. 7 disc set 7 h 55 min *''Laurie Lee Reading His Own Poems'' (1960), Decca music * .

Plays

*''Peasants' Priest'' (1947), performed at the

Canterbury Festival The Canterbury Festival is Kent's international festival of the arts. It takes place in Canterbury (England) and surrounding towns and villages (including Faversham, Whitstable and Margate) each October/November and includes performances of a vari ...

Screenplays

*''Cyprus Is an Island'' (1946) *''A Tale in a Teacup'' (1947)

Radio Plays

*''The Voyage of Magellan'' (1946; published 1948) *''Black Saturday, Red Sunday'' (1956), produced by

Louis MacNeice Frederick Louis MacNeice (12 September 1907 – 3 September 1963) was an Irish poet and playwright, and a member of the Auden Group, which also included W. H. Auden, Stephen Spender and Cecil Day-Lewis. MacNeice's body of work was widely a ...

BBC Third Programme The BBC Third Programme was a national radio station produced and broadcast from 1946 until 1967, when it was replaced by Radio 3. It first went on the air on 29 September 1946 and quickly became one of the leading cultural and intellectual f ...

. *''I Call Me Adam'' (1959), produced by Louis MacNeice, BBC Third Programme.

References

Bibliography

* . * Oliver-Jones, Stephen (2018), ''Laurie Lee 1914-1997 A Bibliography'', Tolworth, Surrey: Grosvenor House Publishing Ltd

External links

* . * . * * * . * .
ask.stroudvoices.co.uk : Audio history of the area (filtered for words "Laurie & Lee")Katherine ('Kathy') Francesca Lee (née Polge) (1931- )National Portrait GalleryLaurie Lee Papers
at the

Supplementary Laurie Lee Papers
at the British Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Laurie 1914 births 1997 deaths Members of the Order of the British Empire People from Stroud District British people of the Spanish Civil War Brotherhood of Ruralists People with epilepsy International Brigades personnel Deaths from cancer in England Deaths from colorectal cancer Civil servants in the General Post Office 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English poets People from Stroud