15 October: PG Wodehouse

Born on this date in 1881 was P. G. (Pelham Grenville) Wodehouse, author of the Jeeves stories. Here are 10 things you might not know about him.

1. His full name was Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, after his godfather. PG Wodehouse never particularly liked the name. His family called him "Plum".
2. He was born in Guildford in Surrey. He was born prematurely while his mother was visiting her sister there. Had he been born at the proper time, he'd have been born in Hong Kong, where his father was a magistrate.
3. His father wanted him to join the Navy, and most of his childhood education was geared towards that goal, but his eyesight proved too poor for a naval career. At the time when he would have gone to university, his family couldn't afford to send him, so he got a job in a bank.
4. He disliked working in the bank, and would long for the end of the day, when he could go home and write. At first, he wrote for magazines such as Public School Magazine, for which he wrote articles about sport. His first comic piece was called Men Who Missed Their Own Weddings, which was published in Titbits. He also wrote for The Captain, a magazine for boys, and a column for The Globe.
5. His first novel was called The Pothunters, which was first published as a serial in Public School Magazine, but was subsequently published as a hardback. It was then that he left the bank to concentrate on writing full time. His early novels were mostly school stories.
6. The first tale featuring Jeeves and Wooster was published in 1915, and was called Extricating Young Gussie.
7. He married Ethel Wayman, who he met in New York. He adopted her daughter, Leornora, from a previous relationship. He and Ethel didn't have any children. It's said that he was left infertile by a bout of mumps in his youth.
8. In 1940 he was living in France with his wife, Ethel. With the German invasion imminent, Wodehouse was offered the last seat on an RAF plane returning to England, but he turned it down, because he would have had to leave his wife and Dog behind. Instead, he tried to drive to Portugal with them, but the car broke down. By the time he managed to borrow another car, the roads were blocked. Along with all other foreign males under 60, Wodehouse was imprisoned by the Germans. While pleas to release the well-known writer fell on deaf ears, the Germans did let him have a Typewriter so he could continue to write in prison. He was eventually moved to a hotel and finally released just before he turned sixty. He made some broadcasts on German radio, reading some of the humourous accounts of his life in prison. For that, he was labelled a Nazi collaborator, but mostly by people who hadn't heard the broadcasts. Ethel sold all her jewellery in order to travel to join him in Berlin.
9. He died of a heart attack in New York at the age of 83.
10. He invented a number of words which found their way into the Oxford English dictionary, including Crispish, meaning "somewhat crisp", gruntled, meaning contented, the opposite of "disgruntled" and pottiness, an noun form of "potty" meaning slightly bonkers.

NEW!

Obsidian's Ark

Teenage years bring no end of problems. Daniel Moran's include getting hold of computer games his parents don't think he should have; a full blown crush on the beautiful Suki from Zorostan; maintaining his status as a prefect and getting his homework done. He must also keep from his parents and sister the fact that he is a superhero with a sword from another world.

Trish wonders how to get science whizz Tom to notice her; how to persuade him that the best way to stand up to the school bully is to fight back. She doesn't want her friends, especially not Tom, to know she is a genetic variant with superpowers. Little does she know that Tom has secrets of his own.

Suki struggles to make friends at school when she cannot understand everyday cultural references, and they all suspect her of being a terrorist. She, too, has a secret, but is it what her classmates assume?

When Daniel stumbles upon a plot by an alliance of supervillains to plunge the world into war, he tries to alert the established superheroes, but none of them believe him. When the Prime Minister's only daughter, Yasmin Miller, is abducted, Daniel knows the villains' plan is underway. It seems humanity's only hope may be Daniel and the ragtag bunch of teenage superheroes he recruits. Can he pull together, not only his own team, but the older heroes as well, in a bid to save the Earth from a devastating war?

Themes: 

Superheroes; Coming of age; Leadership; Kidnap and rescue; Aliens; Friendship and rivalry; Terrorism; Secrets.

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