Alexander Waugh
An Unrepentant Englishman: The Life of S P B Mais, Ambassador of the Countryside
An Unrepentant Englishman: The Life of S P B Mais, Ambassador of the Countryside
By Maisie Robson
King’s Lynn Press 240pp £7.99 order from our bookshop
In researching material for my book on the Waughs, Fathers and Sons, I came across the obscure name of S P B Mais many times, for over a long lifespan S P B had, at various junctures, earned his keep as novelist, broadcaster, gossip columnist and schoolteacher, and it was in connection with three of these four professions that he came into close contact with members of my family.
As a schoolboy at Sherborne from 1911 to 1915, my great-uncle, Alec Waugh, revered S P B above all the other masters. In his memoir The Early Years of Alec Waugh he recalled the new teacher’s arrival at the school in the winter term of 1913: ‘He talked at the top of his voice. He was breathlessly alive. He hit Sherborne like a whirlwind. Anything he taught became dramatic.’ Still in his twenties, S P B delivered classes on poetry and literature with extraordinary gusto, inspiring his pupils with lessons on the personalities of poets, encouraging debates on ‘Byron v Wordsworth’ and dishing out marks by the thousand so that even the most average boy could boast to his parents at the end of the year that he had amassed more than ten million marks for English.
All this made little Alec very happy, but little Alec was the apple of his father’s eye and Arthur Waugh was a jealous man, pathologically enamoured with his eldest son. He needed Alec’s love as a druggy needs his drugs, and he wanted it all to himself, exhorting his son
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
'The day Simon and I Vespa-d from Daunt to Daunt to John Sandoe to Hatchards to Goldsboro, places where many of the booksellers have become my friends over the years, was the one with the high puffy clouds, the very strong breeze, the cool-warm sunlight.'
https://literaryreview.co.uk/temple-of-vespa
Some salient thoughts on book collecting from Michael Dirda with a semi tragic conclusion that I suspect many of us can relate to from the @Lit_Review #WednesdayMotivation
Sign up to our newsletter! Get free articles, selections from the archive, subscription offers and competitions delivered straight to your inbox.
http://ow.ly/zZcW50JfgN5