Horace Cecil Hunt (13 September 1902 – 13 July 1954) was a prolific journalist, editor, novelist and anthologist, who is best known for his collections of unintended errors made by British schoolchildren in their examinations and written work, commonly known as 'howlers'.
Hunt was born in London and educated at Southgate County School, now known as Southgate School, then at King's College, London, where he studied journalism.[1] He started work in the insurance business but wrote articles for newspapers until he was offered a job by the publishing company of Ernest Benn Limited to edit periodicals such as The Chemical Age and The Fruit Grocer.[1] In 1928 Benn published Hunt’s first collection of ‘Howlers’ to great success and he followed these up with several other collections in the late 1930s for the publisher Methuen. For example: 'An epistle is the wife of an apostle';[2] 'Two crotchets make a quaker';[3] 'Lourdes is a cricket ground in London';[4] and 'Parsimony is money left by your father.[5]
In 1930 Hunt joined the staff of the Daily Mail newspaper, for whom he was soon appointed fiction editor.[6] During the 1930s he wrote several novels under his own name and two using the pseudonyms Robert Payne and John Devon. The reason for using two pseudonyms for the same two novels is unclear, but may have occurred because of a clash with another writer also named Robert Payne. Hunt also wrote guides to journalism, publishing and writing stories; books on the origins of words and ceremonies; collections of unintentionally funny letters, epitaphs, last words, jokes, amusing notices and signs; and collections of questions for use in quizzes on topics such as music, books and sport. Hunt was latterly editor of children’s fiction for Raphael Tuck until poor eyesight forced him to retire.
Hunt collaborated with two notable artists. First, with Edmund Blampied, who illustrated three collections of children’s howlers and an anthology of proverbs. He also collaborated with W. Heath Robinson on three illustrated books published during the Second World War, all illustrated with Robinson’s typically complicated and fanciful contraptions.
Hunt was Chairman then President of the London Writer Circle and was instrumental in establishing Swanwick writers' summer school becoming its first Chairman in 1949 [7]
Hunt married Kathleen Dykes (1904–2011) in 1926, and they had two sons, Peter (1927–2009) and David (1930–1998). He died in London.
^Hunt, Cecil and Blampied (1937). Hand-Picked Howlers. London: Methuen
^Hunt, Cecil and Blampied (1938). More Hand-Picked Howlers. London: Methuen.
^Hunt, Cecil and Blampied (1937). Ripe Howlers. London: Methuen.
^Hunt, Cecil (1949) The Best Howlers. London: Ernest Benn
^Hunt, Cecil (1948). Ink in my veins. London: Robert Hale.
^Martin, Nancy (1983). Venture of Faith - A History of Swanwick. Worthing: H.E. Walter Ltd. ISBN0-85479-066-7.
December 18, 2023
cecil, hunt, topic, this, article, meet, wikipedia, notability, guideline, biographies, please, help, demonstrate, notability, topic, citing, reliable, secondary, sources, that, independent, topic, provide, significant, coverage, beyond, mere, trivial, mention. The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia s notability guideline for biographies Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention If notability cannot be shown the article is likely to be merged redirected or deleted Find sources Cecil Hunt news newspapers books scholar JSTOR February 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message Horace Cecil Hunt 13 September 1902 13 July 1954 was a prolific journalist editor novelist and anthologist who is best known for his collections of unintended errors made by British schoolchildren in their examinations and written work commonly known as howlers Hunt was born in London and educated at Southgate County School now known as Southgate School then at King s College London where he studied journalism 1 He started work in the insurance business but wrote articles for newspapers until he was offered a job by the publishing company of Ernest Benn Limited to edit periodicals such as The Chemical Age and The Fruit Grocer 1 In 1928 Benn published Hunt s first collection of Howlers to great success and he followed these up with several other collections in the late 1930s for the publisher Methuen For example An epistle is the wife of an apostle 2 Two crotchets make a quaker 3 Lourdes is a cricket ground in London 4 and Parsimony is money left by your father 5 In 1930 Hunt joined the staff of the Daily Mail newspaper for whom he was soon appointed fiction editor 6 During the 1930s he wrote several novels under his own name and two using the pseudonyms Robert Payne and John Devon The reason for using two pseudonyms for the same two novels is unclear but may have occurred because of a clash with another writer also named Robert Payne Hunt also wrote guides to journalism publishing and writing stories books on the origins of words and ceremonies collections of unintentionally funny letters epitaphs last words jokes amusing notices and signs and collections of questions for use in quizzes on topics such as music books and sport Hunt was latterly editor of children s fiction for Raphael Tuck until poor eyesight forced him to retire Hunt collaborated with two notable artists First with Edmund Blampied who illustrated three collections of children s howlers and an anthology of proverbs He also collaborated with W Heath Robinson on three illustrated books published during the Second World War all illustrated with Robinson s typically complicated and fanciful contraptions Hunt was Chairman then President of the London Writer Circle and was instrumental in establishing Swanwick writers summer school becoming its first Chairman in 1949 7 Hunt married Kathleen Dykes 1904 2011 in 1926 and they had two sons Peter 1927 2009 and David 1930 1998 He died in London References edit a b Hunt Cecil 1935 Author biography London Hutchinson Hunt Cecil and Blampied 1937 Hand Picked Howlers London Methuen Hunt Cecil and Blampied 1938 More Hand Picked Howlers London Methuen Hunt Cecil and Blampied 1937 Ripe Howlers London Methuen Hunt Cecil 1949 The Best Howlers London Ernest Benn Hunt Cecil 1948 Ink in my veins London Robert Hale Martin Nancy 1983 Venture of Faith A History of Swanwick Worthing H E Walter Ltd ISBN 0 85479 066 7 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Cecil Hunt amp oldid 1157111180, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
