City Libraries, City of Gold Coast

Jan Morris, life from both sides : a biography, Paul Clements

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

individual biography

illustrationsplatesportraits

index present

non fiction

Jan Morris

bibliography

Paul Clements

life from both sides : a biography

The first full account of a truly remarkable life. When Jan Morris passed away in 2020, she was considered one of Britain's best-loved writers. The author of Venice, Pax Britannica, Conundrum, and more than fifty other books, her work was known for its observational genius, lyricism, and humour, and had earned her a passionate readership around the world. Morris's life was no less fascinating than her oeuvre. Born in 1926, she spent her childhood amidst Oxford's Gothic beauty and later participated in military service in Italy and the Middle East, before embarking on a career as an internationally feted foreign correspondent. From being the only journalist to join the first ascent of Mount Everest in 1953 to covering the trial of Adolf Eichmann, Morris's reportage spanned many of the twentieth century's defining moments. However, public success masked a private dilemma that was only resolved when she transitioned genders in the late 1960s, becoming renowned as a transgender pioneer. She went on to live happily with her wife Elizabeth in Wales for another five decades, and never stopped writing and publishing. Here, for the first time, the many strands of Morris's rich and at times paradoxical life are brought together. Based on a wealth of interviews, archival material, and hitherto unpublished documents, Jan Morris- life from both sides portrays a person of extraordinary talent, curiosity, and joie de vivre

Prologue -- 1 Watching the Ships Go By -- 2 'Morris! Morris! You're in!' -- 3 Shy and Unworldly Youth Goes to War -- 4 Never One of the Boys -- 5 'A Bold and Risky Venture' -- 6 The Sensual Pleasure of America -- 7 Correspondent to Everywhere -- 8 A Stir Down Under -- 9 Whizz Kid on the Hop -- 10 The Far End of the World -- 11 In Search of the Empire -- 12 Imperial Wanderer -- 13 The Long Road to Casablanca -- 14 'Let the Trumpets Sound for Jan' -- 15 The Conundrum Effect -- 16 Hav Plane, Will Travel -- 17 'More Welsh than the Welsh' -- 18 'Please Don't Call Me a Travel Writer' -- 19 'As Many Retirements as Sinatra' -- 20 Last Dispatches from Llanystumdwy -- Epilogue -- Selected Bibliography of Works Consulted -- Acknowledgements -- Afterword -- Endnotes