Walter Greenwood

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Walter Greenwood (born December 17, 1903 in Salford , † September 13, 1974 in Douglas (Isle of Man) ) was a British writer. Greenwood achieved notoriety in particular through the publication of the 1933 novel Liebe geht stempeln ( Love on the Dole ).

Life

Childhood and youth

Greenwood grew up in a lower class family who felt part of socialism . He grew up in the very poor part of Salford called Hanky ​​Park . When Greenwood was nine years old, his father died of tuberculosis at the age of forty-three . His alcohol consumption may also have contributed to an early death. His father had run a barbershop - to compensate for the loss of his father's income and to enable Walter Greenwood and his sister a decent life, Greenwood's mother worked as a waitress in the future.

To add to the family income, Greenwood early took a job with a pawnbroker , where he worked before and after school. When he was thirteen years old, he was able to leave the school he hated and was firmly committed to the pawnshop. As he grew up, Greenwood took on a number of other low-paying odd jobs. He spent a lot of time at the Standford Public Library for further education. From 1929 on, Greenwood was unemployed and was forced to “stamp” - it was at this time in his life that he made his literary debut: Love goes stamping .

Literary breakthrough

In love goes stamping , Walter Greenwood combined some elements of short stories that he had written and had not been published until then. The publisher Jonathan Cape accepted the novel , which accurately and credibly portrayed the underclass of the industrial age at the time, and published it in January 1933. The novel was very well received by various political camps and became a great commercial success, which enabled Greenwood to become financially independent To establish existence.

Against all odds, Greenwood did not marry his long-term friend Alice Miles, but Pearl Alice Osgood, an American actress .

After 1933

Greenwood also published other novels and books after Love on the Dole . Notable publications are, for example, Standing Room Only (1936) or the collection of short stories Cleft Stick (1937), which can be read as the prelude to Love on the dole .

1938 founded Greenwood the film production Greenpark Productions Ltd . During the Second World War he produced films for the British government. In 1944 Greenwood separated from Pearl Alice Osgood.

Even after the World War, Greenwood continued to write novels and short stories. Particularly noteworthy is the autobiography There Was A Time, written on Douglas, Isle of Man and published in 1967 .

Greenwood died in Douglas on September 13, 1974, at the age of 70.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/1006670/walter-greenwood.html?tab=penguin-biography
  2. ↑ https://liverpooluniversitypress.blog/2018/08/30/walter-greenwoods-love-on-the-dole-10-minutes-with-chris-hopkins/
  3. ↑ https://spartacus-educational.com/JgreenwoodW.htm/
personal data
SURNAME Greenwood, Walter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British writer
DATE OF BIRTH December 17, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH Salford
DATE OF DEATH September 13, 1974
Place of death Douglas (Isle of Man)