Flannelled Fool
Encyclopedia
Flannelled Fool is an autobiography by T. C. Worsley
, published in 1967. It takes its title from a phrase in "The Islanders", a poem by Rudyard Kipling
.
Though Flannelled Fool is subtitled A Slice of a Life in the Thirties, much of it treats the author's childhood and education before he began a schoolmaster
ing career in 1929.
, the book's eventual publisher, to several rejections:
T. C. Worsley
Thomas Cuthbert Worsley , who wrote as T. C. Worsley, was a British teacher, writer, editor, and theatre and television critic. He is best-remembered for his autobiographical Flannelled Fool: A Slice of a Life in the Thirties.-Biography:...
, published in 1967. It takes its title from a phrase in "The Islanders", a poem by Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
.
Though Flannelled Fool is subtitled A Slice of a Life in the Thirties, much of it treats the author's childhood and education before he began a schoolmaster
Schoolmaster
A schoolmaster, or simply master, once referred to a male school teacher. This usage survives in British public schools, but is generally obsolete elsewhere.The teacher in charge of a school is the headmaster...
ing career in 1929.
Publication
The frank accounts of many of its personages, only thinly disguised by false names, led, according to Alan RossAlan Ross
Alan John Ross, , was a British poet, writer and editor. He was born in Calcutta, India, where he spent the first seven years of his life...
, the book's eventual publisher, to several rejections:
At least three leading publishers turned it down on legal advice, and Cuthbert Worsley himself admitted that he had been warned it was folly to expect publication. Re-reading it now I feel there were good reasons for anxiety, but at the time, with little to lose, it seemed worth the risk. Worsley had assured me that all the 'college' [WellingtonWellington College, Berkshire-Former pupils:Notable former pupils include historian P. J. Marshall, architect Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, impressionist Rory Bremner, Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge, author Sebastian Faulks, language school pioneer John Haycraft, political journalist Robin Oakley, actor Sir Christopher...
] masters likely to cause trouble were dead, and Kurt HahnKurt HahnKurt Martin Hahn was a German educator whose philosophies are considered internationally influential.-Biography:...
, whose possible reaction had done most to scare off the others, was, safely, we hoped, back in Germany.In the event, nothing happened. Far from bankrupting us or putting Cuthbert and me in gaol, the book both sold well and received a wonderful press.