William Pryor (writer)
Encyclopedia
William Marlborough Pryor (born January 29, 1945) is a British
writer
.
Pryor was born in Farnborough
in 1945, to Mark Gillachrist Marlborough Pryor, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge
, and Sophie (née Raverat), daughter of Jacques Raverat
and his wife Gwen (née Darwin)
(granddaughter of Charles Darwin
). His younger sister Lucy (born 1948) is a painter known professionally as Lucy Raverat
. In 1969 he married Teresa Mary Kerrison, daughter of Roger Kerrison of Sloley Lodge. They had a daughter Lydia (born 1970), who married Simon Bostock.
Pryor was educated at Eton College
and studied Moral Sciences (i.e. philosophy
) at Trinity College, Cambridge
William Pryor became a beat poet and dadaist under the influence of Alexander Trocchi
.
Pryor became a serial entrepreneur, starting the Airlift Book Company and The Green Catalogue. In 2002 he wrote a memoir of his addictions: The Survival of the Coolest which was published the following year. Pryor has stated his intention to turn this into a film with himself as executive producer.
In 2004 he published the book Virginia Woolf & the Raverats: A Different Sort of Friendship about the relationship between his maternal grandparents and Virginia Woolf
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
.
Pryor was born in Farnborough
Farnborough, Hampshire
-History:Name changes: Ferneberga ; Farnburghe, Farenberg ; Farnborowe, Fremborough, Fameborough .Tower Hill, Cove: There is substantial evidence...
in 1945, to Mark Gillachrist Marlborough Pryor, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
, and Sophie (née Raverat), daughter of Jacques Raverat
Jacques Raverat
Jacques Pierre Raverat was a French painter.He married the English painter Gwen Darwin, in 1911, the daughter of George Darwin and granddaughter of Charles Darwin. They had two daughters, Elisabeth , who married the Norwegian politician Edvard Hambro and Sophie who married the Cambridge scholar...
and his wife Gwen (née Darwin)
Gwen Raverat
Gwendolen Mary "Gwen" Raverat née Darwin was a celebrated English wood engraving artist who co-founded the Society of Wood Engravers in England.- Biography :...
(granddaughter of Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
). His younger sister Lucy (born 1948) is a painter known professionally as Lucy Raverat
Lucy Raverat
Lucy Raverat is the professional name used by Lucy Rawlinson , a British painter.-Life:Born in Cambridge, Lucy Raverat is the daughter of Mark Gillachrist Marlborough Pryor, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and Sophie , daughter of the artists Jacques Raverat and his wife Gwen...
. In 1969 he married Teresa Mary Kerrison, daughter of Roger Kerrison of Sloley Lodge. They had a daughter Lydia (born 1970), who married Simon Bostock.
Pryor was educated at Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and studied Moral Sciences (i.e. philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
) at Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
William Pryor became a beat poet and dadaist under the influence of Alexander Trocchi
Alexander Trocchi
Alexander Whitelaw Robertson Trocchi was a Scottish novelist.-Early career:Trocchi was born in Glasgow to a Scottish mother and Italian father. After working as a seaman on the Murmansk convoys, he attended University of Glasgow. On graduation he obtained a traveling grant that enabled him to...
.
Pryor became a serial entrepreneur, starting the Airlift Book Company and The Green Catalogue. In 2002 he wrote a memoir of his addictions: The Survival of the Coolest which was published the following year. Pryor has stated his intention to turn this into a film with himself as executive producer.
In 2004 he published the book Virginia Woolf & the Raverats: A Different Sort of Friendship about the relationship between his maternal grandparents and Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf
Adeline Virginia Woolf was an English author, essayist, publisher, and writer of short stories, regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century....
.