A proper gentleman

by Vernon Scannell

160 pages, Hardcover

First published November 14, 2002

About the author

A poet, novelist, teacher, and professional boxer, he served in the Gordon Highlanders in the Middle East and took part in the D-day landings, where he was wounded on patrol. He deserted after the war and was eventually court-martialed, and was sent to a psychiatric hospital. Scannell won many poetry awards, including for war poems such as his collection Walking Wounded.

Reviews

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for my postgrad library course as I was doing a dissertation about writers-in-residence. Scannell took on a w-i-r post on a housing estate in Oxford and wrote this book about his experiences. Scannell, an ex-boxer, scoundrel (he deserted the army twice in the war) and rogue (many lovers-on-the-side) became an object of abuse and a twit to the populace he was to serve because he was a poet. He had an awful time, gangs of youth would taunt '"Scannell, poet!" - as if I were a member of a persecuted minority, a Jew in an antisemitic society, a black among racists.'
(I got this quote from Simon Jenkins' obituary in the Guardian, I no longer have the book).
Would I recommend this book? Not to writers-in-residence, or those about to become one.

came across a few more notes on this (1982 diary): Set during the hot summer of 1976. The youth throw stones at him, put glass under his tyres, shout through his letterbox. He feels more and more imprisoned and angry and wants to retaliate and beat one of the kids up. They 'bring out the murderer' in him (he's a pretty tough bloke). 'Po-et, po-et' they call after him in derision.