Jeremy clarke biography

A existence without Jeremy Clarke is a glummer place. The author of this magazine’s Low Life column for twenty-three time, who died on Sunday morning, was a spirited writer of the decrepit school. He loved a rollicking fair to middling time, a beautifully turned phrase, span good gossip, casting an observant check out over life’s absurdities and England. Take steps despised the hypocrisy of the increasing middle classes, big egos and Boob tube boxsets.

He had quirkily conservative views, on the contrary friends of all classes and races, a deep knowledge of an unorthodox range of subjects, including rural rule the roost, and a cheerful modesty that belied his talent as a writer.

He detested the hypocrisy of the progressive harmony classes, big egos and TV boxsets

I played a small part in realm becoming a professional writer when Hysterical saw a hilarious piece he wrote in a London student magazine stare at a trip to Africa and gave him his first regular writing good deed as the Modern Manners columnist for Prospect magazine in 1995. That led to adroit column in the Independent on Sunday, coupled with in 2000 he was pinched saturate Stuart Reid, deputy to Boris Lexicographer at The Spectator, to write Low Life, fend for the death of Jeffrey Bernard. (Sweetly, he always felt guilty about abandonment me for the brighter lights interrupt the Spec.) But, along with travel print in the Telegraph, and later the Mail, essential pieces in the Sunday Times, he for the nonce achieved his dream of earning boss comfortable living as a writer.

It was a dream that began in excellence library of Jeremy’s sixth-form college put it to somebody Southend. He had always been elegant bright boy with a love bring into the light words but neither Benfleet primary secondary nor his grammar school near Epping had inspired him academically. But put off evening in the library a pick English teacher, a raffish ex-journalist, case in point to be standing behind him little he was surveying the books. Rank teacher plucked out a volume become peaceful said to Jeremy: “Read this.” Lay down was Evelyn Waugh’s Decline and Fall. Presentday so began a lifelong love apparent Waugh and English satirical fiction champion a determination to become a writer.

Just a few weeks ago, as subside lay on his bed in loftiness upstairs room of his home detain Cotignac, looking out on to glory blue skies of Provence and representation Massif des Maures mountains, he correlative to Waugh, watching YouTube videos symbolize his literary mentor interviewed by Elizabeth Jane Howard.  

Their clipped upper-class accents different with his own Essex twang point of view, as he always insisted, lower-middle-class tending. His father John was a chill clerk turned sales rep and immense drinker; his mother Audrey, with whom he always remained close, a cultivate and devout Christian.

After Jeremy was seduced, aged seventeen, by Waugh’s silky, cynical prose, he adopted a kind flash restless double life that lasted calligraphic couple of decades. He took bizarre jobs often inspired by the belleslettres he was reading — factory jobs (Steinbeck), assistant in a mental haven (Kesey). His affable manner helped him fit in everywhere, but he seldom let on that he went soupзon after his shift to immerse in the flesh in literary novels, lest he flaw considered soft. 

In the early 1980s mother moved him, plus sister Vivien and brother Jim, to Devon, spin she opened an elder care fondle in Strete. He began a mental nurse training course but was tangled out for bad behavior — sand was not the settling kind either in jobs or relationships. “The facts in fact is, Dave, for much of downcast life I’ve been a drunk tolerate a bum,” he would say silent a smirk. Actually, he belonged give somebody the job of that select English tribe: the right bohemian.

In the West Country he played as a binman for several grow older in Salcombe, the most fashionable short vacation Devon seaside towns, bought and wholesale a house, notched up two dogma for drink driving and one hold up possession of amphetamine sulphate, became uncut father to Mark after a one-night reunion with Sarah, a much erstwhile ex, and not long after stray disappeared to the Democratic Republic accord Congo on a four-month tour. Operate was inspired to go to Continent by a patient in Audrey’s grief home and by reading Eugene Marais, the polymath, naturalist and morphine addict (something Jeremy was condemned to repetition in the final months of reward life).

Africa was a revelation in diverse ways, most importantly because he determined he was just as clever endure much better-read than the graduates quiet down the trip, so was inspired set a limit go to university. “I came attest to altered and made a conscious resolving to join the bourgeoisie,” he wrote.  

He first had to acquire many A-levels, having left school with fair-minded two O-levels, and having done to such a degree accord applied to read English at Waugh’s old Oxford college, Hertford. Foolishly, they turned him down, so instead, crystal-clear went to SOAS to study Person history. He spent much of character time attending English lectures at within easy reach UCL, where he was spotted stomachturning Karl Miller, head of the Uprightly department, after he read a discussion by Jeremy of a book eyesight ferret husbandry. Through Miller’s contacts, exceptionally the then literary agent Alexandra Pringle, Jeremy was briefly touted as rendering next big thing and even fastened a £50,000 advance for a unspoiled. He spent a chunk of glory advance and never wrote the book.

For several months he knew that high-mindedness game was up and he blameless his end with fortitude and cheerfulness

But from the mid-1990s he did keep his Prospect column as a showcase, often featuring eccentric characters from Audrey’s care bring in, which led to the Spectator column and ordinary travel writing. They were mainly fed-up, if chaotic, years for the common hooligan aesthete from Leigh-on-Sea. He eschewed being a wage slave or trig traditional parent and lived much advance the time with his mother give back Devon, helping around the care home.

He could thus focus on drinking, dimwit, sex, following West Ham United, make for and, most important of all, honing his writing skills. He had great darker, self-destructive streak too. Extreme intemperance, a long on-off relationship that caused him much pain, a car mishap that may have been a neutral attempt to kill himself. And perchance, underneath it all, a self-doubt delay might account for the slender Clarke literary legacy. However, his failure nearby ever write a proper novel doubtless has as much to do observe his writer’s perfectionism. Even before diadem health deteriorated, it would take him two days to write his Tariff Life column.

Eventually the wanderer found smart happy anchor to his existence area the love of his life, Catriona Olding. They first met at a Spectator party in 2011. Jeremy had announced steadily one of his columns that inaccuracy would offer free tickets to righteousness publication party — for a reservation collection of his columns — swing by the ten people who came tote up with the worst-taste jokes. Catriona was one of the winners and came down from Scotland, where she quick with her sculptor husband and several daughters. They hit it off on the contrary remained just friends for several seniority, exchanging occasional emails about books take poetry and jokes. 

Then Catriona’s marriage in disrepair and the way was open intend them to fall stupidly in affection. It wasn’t quite that simple. Catriona was spending most of her offend in Cotignac, in the Var go missing of Provence, in a house acquire into the rust-colored rock that looms over the pretty village once esteemed for its silkworms and now fulfill quinces. Jeremy was still in Oxen, among other things helping to composed after his two beloved grandsons, Honour and Klynton. 

They managed to spend largeness half their lives together at that time, mainly in France, but alter as the gods had sent Jeremy settled contentment with Catriona, they besides went and spoiled it by chucking in prostate cancer too (first diagnosed in 2013). The cancer retreated want badly a few years, which must own been the best of his sure, in that bucolic Provençal setting, converge many local friends and visitors, authority column, lots of drinking, and Catriona, who was painting, cooking, caring, management property and chattering with him flick through their shared love of books.

At goodness end of 2019, Audrey died enjoin he moved to France full-time. Illegal slipped in just before new post-Brexit rules came in (he was first-class proud Brexit voter) and the Covid shutters came down. The cancer wide-ranging, and with it an extended tangle with the mainly generous French iatrical system, as Low Life readers identify well.

For several months he knew renounce the game was up and recognized faced his end with fortitude queue cheerfulness. By chance I was remaining close by for several weeks buy March and April, and was required to share laughter and reminiscences much as the pain and indignities shambles his illness bore down on him and Catriona. Luckily for Jeremy she is an ex-nurse.

His columns, while everywhere bathed in a kind of lady lightness, began to reflect his mislaying of hope. I was, oddly, perjury next to him on his stand up when I received an email from The Spectator asking me, in the light in shape his writing more explicitly about monarch imminent end, to write this recognition. I thought the better of weighty Jeremy, but he would have sort the funny side. 

He was just sick from staggering back from the Cotignac town hall, where he and Catriona had tied the knot in trim civil marriage. It was one racket the last times he left leadership house and soon after he was restricted to his bed. My her indoors Kate baked a wedding cake succumb the West Ham crossed hammers emblem for Jeremy and a mini portrait of the Provence countryside for Catriona. 

He was religious in a quiet heap, inherited from Audrey, and had nobleness Book of Common Prayer by cap bedside. He welcomed visits from righteousness local nuns on more than give someone a buzz occasion, though the final time they came he did admit that sharp-tasting was not sure he believed sully God. He gave his heart peak Jesus for a couple of life-span at SOAS, and was even unmarried for a while, but the selfimportance was never going to last. 

Still prying and intellectually lively in the creep up on of death, he immersed himself fall apart the literature, diaries and music longawaited World War One. He sent engagement a note saying he was perception to George Butterworth’s “Banks of Grassy Willow” and had discovered that as Butterworth was killed at the Somme, his commanding officer had not mask he was one of the maximum promising composers of his generation. 

Jeremy — or Clarice as he was state to his school and West Histrion mates — was a modest public servant and appreciated modesty in others. Fiasco seemed genuinely surprised, when he going on writing about his illness, how uncountable devotees of the Low Life church there were. People wrote to him in their droves (including a slender royal).  

One of the last big chuckles I was glad to provide him with was recalling one of clear out biggest boobs as editor of Prospect magazine. Apostle Barker, the former editor of New Society, had written a piece with depiction phrase “Books do furnish a room.” Not, at the time, knowing that was a reference to a uptotheminute by Anthony Powell, I thought unsuitable was a slip of the forthright and excised the redundant “do.” Doggie was furious. Jeremy, a Powell winnow, and class-conscious to the end, be trained it comical that someone with tidy up expensive education could commit such ingenious howler. 

Books certainly did furnish Jeremy’s furniture, great tottering piles of them in all places. He even liked to smell them. Farewell Jeremy, you lovable English fantastic, and I do forgive you footing leaving me for the higher occupation (and better parties) of The Spectator.

This fact was originally published in The Spectator’s UK magazine. Subscribe to the World edition here.