| AdminHistory | Born London, to immigrant parents, 1907; began work at 14 as a cutter and presser in a tailoring sweatshop, and later sold dress fabric in a market stall; became a journalist, contributing to the 'Left Review' and writing plays for the left-wing Workers' Theatre; formed an East End literary group with Willy Goldman and the Litvinoff brothers; served in the army during World War II, latterly as a scriptwriter in an entertainment unit; afterwards became a show business journalist as well as writing on boxing for the 'Weekly Sporting Review'; collaborated with Bernard Mendelovitch and Harry Ariel on scripts for the Yiddish acting troupe based at the Grand Palais; wrote a weekly column for 'The Stage' under the pseudonym Sidney Vauncez; ; became Light Entertainment Editor of 'The Stage', 1962; entered the 'Guinness Book of Records' as the world's oldest columnist, 2004; died 2005. Publications include: 'Jew Boy' (1935); 'Phineas Kahn: Portrait of an Immigrant' (1937); 'The Promised Land', the last Yiddish play to be professionally staged in Europe (1960); 'The Battle of Cable Street' (1987); and western novels under the pseudonym Huck Messer; he also used the pen names Peter Simon and C V Curtis. |
| CustodialHistory | Includes fragment of a letter from E Lahr, bookseller to Sir Louis [?] regarding purchase of the manuscript. Formerly held with other Jewish collections in the Mocatta Library of University College London. |