J.R. Ackerley
(1896-1967), Writer and editorJoe Randolph ('J.R.') Ackerley
Sitter in 7 portraits
In 1922 the young Joe Ackerley received an appreciative letter from E.M. Forster about his long poem 'Ghosts', which led to an enduring friendship between the two men. In 1925 his play The Prisoners of War, based on his wartime experiences, was produced in London. Ackerley joined the BBC in 1928, and was for many years the literary editor of The Listener. In 1956 he published My Dog Tulip, a frank and funny portrait of his Alsatian, Queenie. His autobiography, My Father and Myself (1968), described the double life of his father, a prosperous banana importer who secretly maintained two families in separate locations.
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