Alasdair George Stuart Clayre (9 October 1935 – 10 January 1984) was a British author, broadcaster, singer-songwriter, and academic.
Early life and career
Clayre was born in Southampton, Hampshire on 9 October 1935. [1] He won a scholarship to Winchester College, where he became head boy, and a further scholarship to Christ Church, Oxford [2] where, as an undergraduate, his intellect was compared to that of Isaiah Berlin. He graduated with a congratulatory first class degree - the highest class of degree awarded at Oxford (see British undergraduate degree classification) - and won a Prize Fellowship to All Souls College - one of the highest academic honours in the United Kingdom. [3]
Clayre recorded two albums of songs including many of his own compositions: Alasdair Clayre ( Elektra Records) and Adam and the Beasts ( Folkways Records). He also appears on the Elektra folk song compilation A Cold Wind Blows. His English translation of " La Colombe" (The Dove") by Jacques Brel has been recorded by Judy Collins and Joan Baez. Another of his compositions, Train Song, has been recorded by Vashti Bunyan (who also co-wrote the song), [4] while Adam and the Beasts has been recorded by Barry Dransfield and Shusha Guppy.
Personal life
Clayre married Felicity Bryan in 1974. They divorced in 1980. [2]
Death
Clayre took his own life in 1984 by jumping in front of a train in North London. [5]
Selected publications
- The Heart of the Dragon (London: Collins, 1984), [6] based on a TV series he produced, wrote, directed and presented about China at a time when the country was just opening up to the West [7]
- Nature and Industrialisation: an Anthology (Oxford: Oxford University Press in association with the Open University, 1977)
- The Political Economy of Co-operation and Participation: a Third Sector (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980)
- Work and Play: Ideas and Experience of Work and Leisure (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1974) [8]
- The Impact of Broadcasting; or, Mrs Buckle's Wall is Singing (Salisbury: Compton Russell, 1973), which includes a foreword by Asa Briggs
- 100 Folk Songs and New Songs, a songbook which he compiled; some of the new songs are his own compositions [9]
- A Fire by the Sea (London: Calypso Press, 1965; 2nd edn Salisbury: Compton Russell, 1973), a book of poems
- The Window (n.p.: Cape, 1961)
- Dialogue (Newport: n.p., 1959), co-edited with P. Jay
References
- ^ Date of birth given in death index for 1984. General Register Office, London.
- ^ a b The Times obituary 13 January 1984
- ^ Magill, Frank Northern (1994). Magill's Literary Annual 1994. Salem Press Inc. ISBN 0-89356-294-7.
- ^ "Vashti - Train Song". Discogs. 20 May 1966.
- ^ Goleman, Daniel (May 1996). "Higher Suicide Risk for Perfectionists". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 April 2007.
- ^ Clayre, Alasdair (1984). The Heart of the Dragon. Collins Harvill. ISBN 0-00-272115-5.
- ^ See IMDB entry for the series
- ^ Clayre, Alasdair (1975). Work and Play: ideas and experience of work and leisure. Harper and Row.
- ^ Clayre, Alasdair (1968). 100 Folk Songs and New Songs. Wolfe Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-7234-0049-0.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
- 1935 births
- Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford
- British broadcasters
- Elektra Records artists
- English male singer-songwriters
- English singer-songwriters
- Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford
- Writers from Southampton
- People educated at Winchester College
- Suicides by train
- Suicides in Highgate, Greater London
- 20th-century English singers
- 1984 suicides
- 1984 deaths
- 20th-century English male writers
- 20th-century British male singers
- Musicians from Southampton