H.E. Bates (16 May, 1905 – 29 January, 1974) was a British writer who was known for his short stories and novels.
Fun Facts about H. E. Bates:
- Herbert Ernest Bates was born in Northamptonshire, England. He loved the area which inspired his writings, and set many of his books there.
- After finishing his schooling, he worked as a warehouse clerk and reporter. He hated his job as a reporter, but loved the job at the warehouse because it gave him time to write.
- Mr. Bates’ first published novel,The Two Sisters, was published and inspired by walks he took at the dead of night to a small village.
- Despite the gritty and sometimes dark themes of his stories, he loved gardening and even wrote two books on the subject.
- During World War II, H. E. Bates was enlisted by the Air Ministry to the Royal Air Force to write short stories with the objective of creating a positive image.
Facts, did not matter. - Originally, the stories for the Royal Air Force were published under the nom de plume Flying Officer X in the News Chronicle. They were, however, collected into the bookThe Greatest People in the World and Other Storiesas well as the bookHow Sleep the Brave and Other Stories.
- He had some financial success with the bookFair Stood the Wind for France, as well as two novels about Burma and one about India which he wrote when posted in the area. After the war, H. E. Bates published about one novel and one collection of short stores per year.
- Many of his short stories were adapted to TV and some into movies. Mr. Bates, of course, managed to work on some of the scripts.
- H. E. Bates married Madge Cox in 1931. The couple lived in Little Chart, a village in Kent and enjoyed gardening. They had two sons and two daughters, including Jonathan Bates, a sound engineer who was nominated for an Academy Award for his work on Gandhi. Richard Bates was a TV producers, and granddaughter Victoria Wicks is an actress and script consultant.
- After living a full and successful life, Mr. Bates passed away in his beloved Kent.
Zohar — Man of la Book
*Amazon links point to an affiliate account
Sources:
H. E. Bates: British Author | Wikipedia
--- Please like and follow ManOfLaBook.com ---
Summary
Article Name
Fun Facts Friday: H. E. Bates
DescriptionH.E. Bates (16 May, 1905 – 29 January, 1974) was a British writer who was known for his short stories and novels.
AuthorMan of la Book
Publisher Name
Man of la Book - A Bookish Blog
Publisher Logo
No Comments