Haines, Todd, 1942-

Anthony Dymoke Powell was born on December 21, 1905, in London, England, the only child of Philip Lionel William Powell of the Welch regiment and Maud Mary Wells-Dymoke. Powell was educated at New Beacon preparatory school, Eton College, and Balliol College, Oxford, where he earned a third in history in 1926. That same year he joined the publishing firm of Duckworth & Co., where one of his tasks was to read unsolicited manuscripts. Powell's first novel 'Afternoon men' was published by Duckworth in 1931, followed by 'Venusburg' (1932), 'From a view to a death' (1933), and 'Agents and patients' (1936). Having left Duckworth in 1935, Powell was employed as a script writer for Warner Brothers of Great Britain during 1936. His fifth novel, 'What's become of Waring', appeared in 1939. Powell's literary career was interrupted by World War II, during which he served in the Welch Regiment, 1939-1941 and the intelligence corps, 1941-1945. Before returning to fiction, Powell ventured into biography with the publication of 'John Aubrey and his friends' in 1948. This was followed the next year by his edition of Aubrey's 'Brief lives and other selected writings'. In 1951 'A question of upbringing', the first volume of the monumental roman fleuve, 'A dance to the music of time', appeared. Originally projected for only a few volumes the work was not completed until the publication of the twelfth novel, 'Hearing secret harmonies', in 1975. Powell's last work of fiction, 'The fisher king', was published in 1986. Non-fiction works include 'To keep the ball rolling': four volumes of memoirs (1976-1982); 'Miscellaneous verdicts' (1990) and 'Under review' (1991): collections of essays and reviews written while on the staffs of 'The Times literary supplement', 'Punch', and the 'Daily telegraph'; three volumes of 'Journals' (1995-1997); and 'A writer's notebook' published posthumously in 2000 (written ca. 1930). Powell was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for 'At Lady Molly's' in 1958 and the W. H. Smith Award for 'Temporary kings' in 1974. He was named CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in 1956 and made a Companion of Honour in 1988. Powell married Lady Violet Georgiana Pakenham, third daughter of the fifth earl of Longford, on Dec. 1, 1934. They had two sons, Tristram and John. Anthony Dymoke Powell died at his home, The Chantry, near Frome, Somerset, on March 28, 2000.

Handasyde Buchanan was a partner in the firm of G. Heywood Hill, a London bookseller. A tireless promoter of those authors whose work he admired, Buchanan was friend to a number of the British writers who came into prominence after World War II, including Anthony Powell and Evelyn Waugh. Buchanan's own ventures into print included 'Fine bird books, 1700-1900', with Satcheverell Sitwell and James Fisher (1953), 'Great cricket matches' (editor, 1962), and 'Nature into art' (1979).

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