Welsh novelist, journalist and literary critic Howard
Spring was born on February 10, 1889 in Cardiff, Wales. His family were
extremely poor and the nine children and their parents lived in a small, two
bedroomed house. The situation was made even worse when Howard's father died
when he was still at school and his mother was forced to take in washing to
earn some money. When he was twelve years old he left school and found work as
an errand boy at a butcher's shop that involved carrying heavy joints to
customers' houses. Later he obtained a post as an office-boy at an accountants
in Cardiff Docks. Spring then found work as a messenger boy at the South Wales Daily News. He taught
himself shorthand and attended night school to improve his education. Spring
eventually joined the reporting staff of the newspaper. In 1911 began work for
the Yorkshire Observer. Spring moved
to the Manchester Guardian in 1915
and stayed for over fifteen years. He reported on World War I and during the
conflict worked for the British Intelligence Department in France. In 1930
Spring joined the Evening Standard and
became the newspaper's chief book reviewer. He also wrote several best-selling
novels that included Shabby Tiger (1934),
My Son, My Son (1938), The Houses in Between (1951), and I Met a Lady (1961). He also wrote two
volumes of autobiography. He died from a stroke on May 3, 1965.
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