Denzil Stanley Batchelor (23 February 1906 – 6 September 1969) was a British journalist, writer, poet, playwright, wine expert and a radio and television broadcaster.
Denzil Batchelor was born in Bombay, India, the only son of Sir Stanley Lockhart Batchelor, a High Court judge in India. His grandfather was also a High Court judge in India.[1] He was educated at Trent College and Worcester College, Oxford, where he obtained a BA in English literature and the English language.[2] He boxed and played rugby at Oxford. His interest in sport continued after leaving university and saw him start his own cricket team, "The Batchelors."[2] In London he became a journalist, writing for the Sketcher, Mercury and New Statesman. He was offered a job with a newspaper in Australia but on arrival found the firm closing down.[3]
In Australiaedit
Batchelor was living in Sydney, Australia, by August 1931.[4] There he was employed as a journalist for The Daily Telegraph newspaper.[5] Batchelor had started to engage in public speaking by 1933 when he gave a talk on the writings of George Bernard Shaw in October that year.[6] He was giving talks on modern drama, women's writing and poetry by 1934 and was writing his own poetry by that date. He was early noted for his "sense of humor and amusing repartee".[7] Soon after he began to speak on radio station 2FC.[8] He wrote the screenplay for the 1935 Australian feature film The Burgomeister.[9] He left Sydney by ship for London, via Singapore, on 24 May 1937.[10]
Back in Britainedit
On his return to London he went to Spain as a war correspondent during the Spanish Civil War.[11]
Batchelor married Eleanor Pack on 15 September 1939 in London.[12][13] The couple had two sons, David and Christopher.[14]
His play The Blue Giant was broadcast on the BBC Home Service in December 1945.[16]
He was the secretary of the former cricketer C. B. Fry for several years, wrote a biography of him, helped Fry with his "autobiography" and was one of the few who could hold his own in conversation with him.[17] He reported on cricket and rugby union for several newspapers, including The Times, and at one time was the sports editor of the magazine Picture Post. He wrote books on a wide range of subjects, both sporting and non-sporting, but is chiefly remembered for those on cricket and boxing. He was described as having "a more literary and imagistic approach than most sports writers".[1] He is also remembered for his work as a broadcaster, wine connoisseur and novelist.
At one time he held the position of Registrar of the Authors' Association. He was described as "the wittiest man in London".[18]
Batchelor died in London from a heart attack in the autumn of 1969 while the Great Cricketers anthology, which he edited, was still in the press. It was written of him in The Times shortly after his death,
... he was one of those men who did so many different things well ... He chose to diffuse his light rather than concentrate it. That gave him, maybe, more fun: it certainly gave more pleasure to others. Apart from his writing, he was an outstanding broadcaster. He could turn a fresh and vivid phrase as well as any man of his generation. He had, in abundance, the quality we call gusto – a joyful, adventurous spirit which carried him through many trials and made him, once met, never forgotten.[19]
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Denzil Stanley Batchelor 23 February 1906 6 September 1969 was a British journalist writer poet playwright wine expert and a radio and television broadcaster Denzil Batchelor Contents 1 Life and career 2 In Australia 3 Back in Britain 4 Bibliography 5 Notes 6 ReferencesLife and career editDenzil Batchelor was born in Bombay India the only son of Sir Stanley Lockhart Batchelor a High Court judge in India His grandfather was also a High Court judge in India 1 He was educated at Trent College and Worcester College Oxford where he obtained a BA in English literature and the English language 2 He boxed and played rugby at Oxford His interest in sport continued after leaving university and saw him start his own cricket team The Batchelors 2 In London he became a journalist writing for the Sketcher Mercury and New Statesman He was offered a job with a newspaper in Australia but on arrival found the firm closing down 3 In Australia editBatchelor was living in Sydney Australia by August 1931 4 There he was employed as a journalist for The Daily Telegraph newspaper 5 Batchelor had started to engage in public speaking by 1933 when he gave a talk on the writings of George Bernard Shaw in October that year 6 He was giving talks on modern drama women s writing and poetry by 1934 and was writing his own poetry by that date He was early noted for his sense of humor and amusing repartee 7 Soon after he began to speak on radio station 2FC 8 He wrote the screenplay for the 1935 Australian feature film The Burgomeister 9 He left Sydney by ship for London via Singapore on 24 May 1937 10 Back in Britain editOn his return to London he went to Spain as a war correspondent during the Spanish Civil War 11 Batchelor married Eleanor Pack on 15 September 1939 in London 12 13 The couple had two sons David and Christopher 14 He served as a captain in the British Army during World War II working in intelligence and propaganda 1 15 His play The Blue Giant was broadcast on the BBC Home Service in December 1945 16 He was the secretary of the former cricketer C B Fry for several years wrote a biography of him helped Fry with his autobiography and was one of the few who could hold his own in conversation with him 17 He reported on cricket and rugby union for several newspapers including The Times and at one time was the sports editor of the magazine Picture Post He wrote books on a wide range of subjects both sporting and non sporting but is chiefly remembered for those on cricket and boxing He was described as having a more literary and imagistic approach than most sports writers 1 He is also remembered for his work as a broadcaster wine connoisseur and novelist At one time he held the position of Registrar of the Authors Association He was described as the wittiest man in London 18 Batchelor died in London from a heart attack in the autumn of 1969 while the Great Cricketers anthology which he edited was still in the press It was written of him in The Times shortly after his death he was one of those men who did so many different things well He chose to diffuse his light rather than concentrate it That gave him maybe more fun it certainly gave more pleasure to others Apart from his writing he was an outstanding broadcaster He could turn a fresh and vivid phrase as well as any man of his generation He had in abundance the quality we call gusto a joyful adventurous spirit which carried him through many trials and made him once met never forgotten 19 He is buried in Gunnersbury Cemetery London Bibliography editPoems E Matthews amp Marriott 1927 The Test Match Murder Angus amp Robertson Sydney 1936 Gods with Gloves on 1946 The Game Goes On 1947 British Boxing Britain In Pictures series Collins 1948 Days Without Sunset 1949 The Match I Remember Laurie 1950 Turf of Old HF amp G Witherby 1951 1st edition ISBN 978 0 85493 089 0 C B Fry Cricketing Lives series Phoenix House 1951 They Laugh That Win Hale 1951 A Gallery of Great Players from W G Grace to the Present Day Collins 1952 The Book of Cricket Collins 1952 Game of a Lifetime Laurie 1953 Best Boxing Stories Faber 1953 The Picture Post Book of the Tests 1953 Hulton Press 1953 Soccer A History of Association Football Batsford 1954 This My Son Collins 1954 Big Fight The Story of World Championship Boxing Phoenix House 1954 The Picture Post Book of the Tests 1954 5 Hulton Press 1955 Jack Johnson and His Times Phoenix House 1956 The Picture Post Book of the Tests 1956 Hulton Press 1956 The Taste of Blood Heinemann 1956 Everything Happens to Hector Heinemann 1958 The Man Who Loved Chocolates Heinemann 1961 Babbled of Green Fields autobiography Hutchinson 1961 The English Inn Batsford 1963 The Test Matches of 1964 England v Australia Epworth Press 1964 The Boxing Companion Eyre amp Spottiswoode 1964 For What We Are About To Receive Jenkins 1964 On the Brink Macdonald amp Co 1964 London in Colour British Heritage series Batsford 1964 The Sedulous Ape Macdonald amp Co 1965 The Delicate Flower Jenkins 1965 Sportsman s London London Transport Board 1966 The Changing Face of Cricket with Learie Constantine Eyre amp Spottiswoode 1966 Best Cricket Stories editor Faber and Faber 1967 ISBN 978 0 571 08006 9 Wines Great and Small Cassell 1969 ISBN 978 0 304 93449 2 Great Cricketers editor Eyre amp Spottiswoode 1970 ISBN 978 0 413 26510 4 Notes edit a b c A J Winter 1969 Denzil Batchelor The Cricketer 128 a b New Speaker on the National Network The Newcastle Sun 8 August 1934 p 4 Denzil Batchelor Babbled of Green Fields Hutchinson London 1961 p 30 Sydney Morning Herald 4 February 1932 p 5 The Daily Telegraph 22 July 1932 p 8 Newcastle Morning Herald 28 October 1933 p 11 The Sun Sydney 1 April 1934 p 34 The Sydney Morning Herald 16 June 1934 p 10 The Burgomeister Completion Celebrated Sydney Morning Herald 5 29 July 1935 Truth Sydney 25 May 1937 p 31 David Deacon British news media and the Spanish Civil War 2008 Edinburgh University Press pp 27 amp 67 The Times 16 September 1939 p 11 Batchelor Babbled of Green Fields p 207 Batchelor Babbled of Green Fields p 210 Batchelor Babbled of Green Fields pp 207 9 The Times 7 December 1945 p 10 Gibson Alan The Cricket Captains of England The Pavilion Library 1989 ISBN 1 85145 390 3 p 102 The Tough Life Of An Artist at the Wayback Machine archived 2 February 2007 Rome Daily American 6 October 1966 The Times 11 September 1969 p 10 References editWisden Cricketers Almanack 1970 edition obituary Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Denzil Batchelor amp oldid 1147101046, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
