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Desmond Skirrow (born 1923〔Dyment, Clifford (ed.). ''New Poems.'' London: Michael Joseph, 1954; pg. 178.〕 or 1924〔"Amis Light Verse">Amis, Kingsley. ''The New Oxford Book of English Light Verse''. Oxford University Press, 1978; pg. 316〕 in Barry, South Wales〔) was a British advertising executive and novelist. He died on 16 August 1976 at The Avenue Clinic in Hove and was cremated at Downs Crematorium, Brighton, on 23 August 1976. ==Writing career== In 1963 Skirrow met Alida Haskins, who showed him the maquette of ''Cowboy Kate & Other Stories'' by Sam Haskins, and he put words to the visual story devised by Sam and Alida. Alida introduced him to Sam's publisher, the Bodley Head in London, who went on to publish his thriller novels. Sam's next book, ''November Girl'', was published in 1966 and Skirrow provided the text for the melancholic visual story. While working as an advertising executive in the mid-1960s Skirrow commuted daily from Brighton to London, and he wrote 1,000 words a day until he had a 70,000-word novel.〔 This was ''It Won't Get You Anywhere'', the first of three spy novels about fictional British agent John Brock. Like his creator, Brock works in advertising in London, but is also a part-time agent for an undercover department run by The Fat Man. Penthouse magazine said that both Brock and Skirrow were likeable, soft-hearted and rather shy.〔"Words". ''Penthouse'' (1967), Volume 2, Issues 6–12.〕 Skirrow denied that he and Brock had any similarity, noting that his hair was blonde and Brock's is black.〔 According to Brian Ash, Skirrow "resembled a latter-day Chesterton." Ruth Martin, writing for ''Books & Bookmen'', described Skirrow as "Tall, big, bearded and seemingly incapable of being serious for more than a few minutes at a time." Two sequels followed: ''I Was Following This Girl'' and ''I'm Trying to Give It Up'', tough, irreverent, and witty. Punch called them "the Chandler formula, basically, but louder and funnier." ''Penthouse'' said "between the punch-ups and chases and killings paint a wildly amusing cynical-eye view of the glossy, hysterical world of advertising."〔 Skirrow also wrote a children's book, ''The Case of The Silver Egg'', televised as ''The Queen Street Gang'',() about the adventures of a group of boys tracking down a gang of villains. ''Books and Bookmen'' refers to an unpublished sequel.〔'’Books and Bookmen'’. Volume 13 (1967) pg. 15.〕 Skirrow's frequently anthologised poem "Ode on a Grecian Urn Summarized"() parodies John Keats' Ode on a Grecian Urn. First published in the New Statesman in 1960,〔''New Statesman''. 30 July 1960.〕 it appeared in the ''New Oxford Book of Light Verse'' edited by Kingsley Amis.〔"Amis Light Verse"/> Vanderbilt University coined the term "Skirrowing" for a terse parody of a great poetic work.() BBC Radio 2 Woman's Hour serialised ''It Won't Get You Anywhere'' between 2 and 13 November 1970.〔'’The Bookseller'’. Issues 3380–3393 (1970) pg. 2116.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Desmond Skirrow」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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