John Mortimer and the defence of literary freedom
I've just learned that the playwright and novelist John Mortimer has died peacefully this morning after a long illness. He was 85. I've been a fan of Rumpole of the Bailey, Mortimer's most famous creation, since I was a student. But it would be a mistake to assess Mortimer's legacy solely in terms of the disorganised senior junior Horace Rumpole.
I will leave it to others to celebrate his scriptwriting (from I, Claudius to Tea With Mussolini), his novels and his wonderful autobiographical writings. Instead, I'll call attention to Mortimer immensely important role as an advocate for literary freedom.
The form of address "Sir John Mortimer QC" may make him sound like an institutional insider, but Mortimer was often oIn the outside making the case for openness and innovation against narrowness and cultural nervousness. He publishing his first novel at the age of 24, and pursued a very successful legal career alongside his developing fame as a writer.
In 1960, he appeared for the defence in the DH Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover obsenity case; in 1968, he brought a landmark appeal in the case of Hubert Selby Jr's groundbreaking novel Last Exist to Brooklyn; in 1971, he was defence counsel in the Oz conspiracy trial; in 1976, he defended Gay News after they were accused of blasphemy for publishing a poem that appeared to imply that Jesus was gay; and, in 1977, he defended the Sex Pistols and Virgin Records over the alleged obsenity in the band's famous album title, Never Mind the Bollocks. Every writer working today owes John Mortimer a debt of thanks.
Horace Rumpole had a quotation from Wordsworth for every occasion. What lines would old Rumpole crib from the Oxford Book of Verse to say farewell to his colourful creator? Perhaps this:
"And, when the stream
Which overflowed the soul was passed away,
A consciousness remained that it had left,
Deposited upon the silent shore
Of memory, images and precious thoughts
That shall not die, and cannot be destroyed."
Comment number 1.
At 16th Jan 2009, MarcusAureliusII wrote:Rumpole of the Bailey is my favorite British export. I have the entire DVD collection and watch them again and again. I watched at every opportunity since I became aware of them on PBS during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
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Comment number 2.
At 17th Jan 2009, portwyne wrote:What better epitaph could anyone want?
I might add perhaps:
"Say, then, that he was 'wise' as brave;
As wise in thought as bold in deed:
For in the principles of things
He sought his moral creed."
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