Diana Wynne Jones was born on August 16th 1934.
There is nothing in Georgette Heyer’s novels relevant to the themes of this blog, although she has been featured here because of some similarities in her and Stella Gibbons’s lives.
Diana Wynne Jones is very different: her life and her books have been mentioned in several articles and there is still more material to come.
While Georgette Heyer never wrote about magic, witches or anything occult, Diana Wynne Jones wrote about little else. I wonder whether Georgette’ Heyer’s happy childhood and Diana Wynne Jones’s awful one had anything to do with this.
These two writers have only a few things in common.
They were both born in London and both moved around a lot - at least for a while. They were both heavy smokers, and both died from lung cancer.
While both were very tall, they were very different in appearance. Georgette Heyer was elegant, stylish and kept up with the fashions; Diana Wynne Jones was wild-haired and rather witch-like.
One of the biggest differences is their attitude to publicity.
Georgette Heyer kept herself from the world for most of her life. She is described as ‘ferociously reticent’.
Diana Wynne Jones gave interviews and talks; she visited schools; she wrote articles and spoke about the creative process and her life.
The two authors were usually treated very differently by people they met, as these two amusing anecdotes show:
Georgette Heyer: more royal than the Queen
Georgette Heyer appeared very grand and was usually treated with great respect.
She was invited to an informal lunch at Buckingham Palace with the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in 1966. She told people that the Queen seemed in awe of her and kept stealing sidelong glances.
Georgette Heyer said that she visited the bookshop at Harrods a few days later and learned that the Queen had very recently been in to buy 12 copies of her latest novel. The Queen had mentioned the lunch and said that Georgette Heyer was formidable.
That is quite a tribute!
This story is told in Jennifer Kloester’s biography.
Diana Wynne Jones and the disastrous school visit
Diana Wynne Jones was often treated with a lack of respect and consideration. Here is an example of this in her own words:
“My Very Worst School Visit
I arrived with the county children's librarian. We were met by a teacher in the playground who said, ‘Go away. The careers interview is canceled.’ We explained and got as far as the entrance.
The Deputy Head met us there, saying, ‘Go away. We don't need any supply teachers today.’
We explained again and eventually reached a classroom where six depressed children sat dotted about among empty desks. ‘The rest have gone to Latin,’ the teacher explained. ‘You won't mind. You wouldn't want them to miss Latin, would you?’
I clenched my teeth, smiled politely, and started trying to cheer up the six depressed children. I had barely spoken two sentences when the Deputy Head reappeared, saying, ‘Everybody out of here at once. We're on strike.’
I had, I may add, come three hundred miles to visit that school.”
This story comes from Diana Wynne Jones’s book Reflections: On the Magic of Writing.
These two very different writers will be remembered for many years to come.
