George William Houghton

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George William Houghton (9 September 1905 – 1993) was a prolific British golf writer and cartoonist. He was born in Perth, Scotland.

Perth, Scotland City in Scotland

Perth is a city in central Scotland, on the banks of the River Tay. It is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and the historic county town of Perthshire. It has a population of about 47,180. Perth has been known as The Fair City since the publication of the story Fair Maid of Perth by Scottish writer Sir Walter Scott in 1828. During the later medieval period the city was also called St John's Toun or Saint Johnstoun by its inhabitants in reference to the main church dedicated to St John the Baptist. This name is preserved by the city's football teams, St Johnstone F.C.

Contents

Life and works

Houghton served as a RAF officer in the Western Desert in World War II and later recounted his experiences in They Flew Through Sand (1943).

Western Desert Campaign one of two major stages of the North African Campaign during WWII

The Western Desert Campaign, took place in the deserts of Egypt and Libya and was the main theatre in the North African Campaign during the Second World War. The campaign began in September 1940 with the Italian invasion of Egypt; Operation Compass, a British five-day raid in December 1940, led to the destruction of the Italian 10th Army. Benito Mussolini sought help from Adolf Hitler, who responded with a small German force sent to Tripoli under Directive 22. The German Afrika Korps was under nominal Italian command but Italian dependency on Nazi Germany made it the dominant partner.

World War II 1939–1945 global war

World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. A state of total war emerged, directly involving more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. The major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, marked by 50 to 85 million fatalities, most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China. It included massacres, the genocide of the Holocaust, strategic bombing, premeditated death from starvation and disease, and the only use of nuclear weapons in war.

During the 1950s and 1960s, he published over 20 humorous books on golf. His books were highly popular and were said to be on every public library shelf in Australia. [1] In 1974, sales of his golf humor books reached 600,000 copies. [2]

His "Golf Addict" series with titles such as Golf Addict Visits the USA (1955), Golf Addict Invades Wales (1969) and Golf Addict in Gaucho Land (1970) describe his golfing experiences and encounters in the British Isles, Sweden, Japan, China, Russia, South America and the United States. He illustrated his books with his own cartoons.

British Isles Group of islands in northwest Europe

The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic off the north-western coast of continental Europe that consist of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Hebrides and over six thousand smaller isles. They have a total area of about 315,159 km2 and a combined population of almost 72 million, and include two sovereign states, the Republic of Ireland, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The islands of Alderney, Jersey, Guernsey, and Sark, and their neighbouring smaller islands, are sometimes also taken to be part of the British Isles, even though, as islands off the coast of France, they do not form part of the archipelago.

Sweden constitutional monarchy in Northern Europe

Sweden, officially the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Scandinavian Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north and Finland to the east, and is connected to Denmark in the southwest by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund, a strait at the Swedish-Danish border. At 450,295 square kilometres (173,860 sq mi), Sweden is the largest country in Northern Europe, the third-largest country in the European Union and the fifth largest country in Europe by area. Sweden has a total population of 10.2 million of which 2.4 million has a foreign background. It has a low population density of 22 inhabitants per square kilometre (57/sq mi). The highest concentration is in the southern half of the country.

Japan Constitutional monarchy in East Asia

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asian continent and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and the Philippine Sea in the south.

Comedian Bob Hope contributed an introduction to his cartoon collection Addict in Bunkerland, as did Scottish golfer Ronnie Shade to his collection Golf Addicts Galore.

Bob Hope American comedian, actor, singer and dancer

Leslie Townes Hope, known professionally as Bob Hope, was an American stand-up comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer, dancer, athlete, and author. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 54 feature films with Hope as star, including a series of seven "Road" musical comedy movies with Bing Crosby as Hope's top-billed partner.

Ronald David Bell Mitchell Shade, MBE was a Scottish professional golfer.

One reviewer said of him: "George Houghton's "Addict" is the "little man" of golf who likes to think himself, and is, the backbone of the game. Golf cuts us all down to size, and we realise that, on the links at any rate, we are all little men . . . " [3]

Houghton collaborated with Scotland's famous lady golfer Jessie Valentine to write a book with tips for amateurs Better Golf - Definitely! (1967).

He wrote one junior novel, Between the Red Lines (1949). Based on fact, it is the lively and often humorous story of a father and son who take a three-week walking holiday off the beaten track in England. [4]

Based on his own medical experience, he also wrote The Penny Spenders (1966), a book on prostate diseases.

Selected anthologies

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References

  1. ↑ Martin R. Farrally, Alastair J. Cochran. Science and Golf III, Human Kinetics, 1999, p. 328 ISBN   0-7360-0020-8 ISBN   978-0736000208
  2. ↑ Clare D. Kinsman, Christine Nasso. Contemporary Authors: A Bio-bibliographical Guide to Current Authors and their Works, Vols 21-24, Gale Research Co., 1975, p.404
  3. ↑ Henry Longhurst. The Bookseller, Issues 3139-3153, Booksellers Association of Great Britain and Ireland,1982, p.1458
  4. ↑ British Book News: Issues 113-124, British Council, 1950
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