Dione Patricia Mary Venables (née Gordon-Finlay, 20 October 1930 – 12 September 2023), also known by her pen name as DG Finlay, was an English novelist and publisher[1] who also founded
The Orwell Society.[2]
Life and work
Dione Patricia Mary Gordon-Finlay was born in
Great Missenden, England on 20 October 1930, as the second daughter of
Alan and Florence (née Gallagher). Her early childhood was dominated by a life at
St. Leonard's boarding-school from the age of three, and then twice narrowly surviving
The Blitz in
London.[3] She developed a friendship with
Arthur Ransome during the
World War II, who encouraged her to write. Her first attempt, at age 11, featured a hedgehog called Edward Wigg, who was adapted by her cousin
Jacintha Buddicom in support of the
War Effort as part of the
National Savings Movement.[4][5] Venables wrote her own diaries, but it was not until 1964 that she published her first articles for magazines and local newspapers reporting on her experiences in
Africa,[6] the
Middle East and
Pakistan, while providing relief flights for refugees in war torn states.[7]
In 1969, Venables began writing and presenting scripts for radio[8] and in 1978, her first novel was published,[9] with its sequel a year later. In the 1980s, she wrote five more novels before switching her attention to publishing.
In 2006, Venables created Finlay Publisher with the aim of promoting the life and works of the writer
George Orwell. Finlay Publisher's first act was to print a new edition of Eric & Us, adding an important post-script written by Venables[10] based on a series of previously unpublished diaries, letters and documented interviews.[11][12] In August of the same year, Venables created a website called Orwell Direct, a forum for academics and enthusiasts alike to exchange views about Orwell. In 2008, the site began publishing a series of twenty articles written by scholars who had written at length about Orwell. They included Sir
Bernard Crick,
Gordon Bowker,
DJ Taylor,
Peter Davison, and Orwell's son,
Richard Blair.[13] Contributors encouraged Venables to institute a more formal collective of Orwell enthusiasts and on 27 December 2010, The Orwell Society was inaugurated by Venables at
Phyllis Court. In 2015, she compiled and published Orwell's poetry,[14][15][16] and in 2017, she published an account of her own war time experiences.
Venables worked to preserve the memory of George Orwell through guest appearances on television and radio and through The Orwell Society.[17][18]
Dione Venables died on 12 September 2023, at the age of 92.[19]