Denys Val Baker

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Denys Val Baker

Born October 24th, 1917
Yorkshire, UK
Died July 6th, 1984
Occupation novelist, journalist, short story writer, editor
Nationality Welsh
Genres Autobiography, short story

Denys Val Baker (October 24th, 1917–July 6th, 1984) was a Cornish writer, specialising in short stories, novels, and autobiographical novels. He was also known for his activities as an editor, and promotion of the arts in Cornwall.

Contents

[edit] Early years

Born Denys Baker in Poppleton, Yorkshire on October 24th, 1917 where his father, Welsh born Valentine Henry Baker, was stationed as a pilot instructor during the Great War. His mother was Dilys Eames, who was from Anglesey in North Wales and had played harp at the National Eisteddfod of 1901. He grew up in Sussex and eventually lived with his parents in Surbiton, Surrey.

Denys was always proud of being of Celtic stock, and he considered himself to be more Welsh than English. A fact that strongly influenced his work throughout his life.

He showed an interest in writing from when a young man. He was particularly drawn to the short story format, which was very popular in the 20's and 30's, and he would send stories to many magazines. Thanks to his father’s contacts with the Harmsworth family, Denys managed to get a job as a reporter on the Derby Evening Telegraph, one of the Harmsworth family’s regional titles, and stayed there for three years. After that he moved to London where he worked as a jobbing journalist on various trade papers. This thorough grounding in practical journalism was to stand him in good stead through the rest of his writing career.

[edit] Career

Denys was by now beginning to supplement his income through freelance journalism and sales of short stories to the many literary magazines that were so popular in the days before television. He was also secretary of a pacifist community in Camden Town. He was a lifelong pacifist and vegetarian. He had by this time changed his surname to Val Baker in honour of his father, who had died in a flying accident in 1942.

Denys Val Baker started publishing his own quarterly magazine Opus, (later to be renamed Voices) in the early forties featuring stories, poems and reviews by his contemporaries- many of whom went on to be well known writers. In 1943 he produced the first of his annual Little Reviews Anthologies through Allen & Unwin, which presented the best of that year's output from the country’s many literary magazines. There were also a series of anthologies of short stories by British and international writers which gave him an enormous range of contacts in the business.

As a writer of fiction his career really started with Selected Stories, which was a little stapled paperback issued in 1944. This was quickly followed by Worlds Without End, a hardback published in 1945, and then his first novel The White Rock in the same year. The latter was also published in U.S. and Holland. A second novel The More We Are Together soon followed and then a third The Widening Mirror in 1949.

Denys was also increasing his output of short stories, many of which were not only published in magazines, but also read on the B.B.C.’s Morning Story programme. Over the years, he had well over 100 stories read on the BBC radio.

Denys had always been enchanted by Cornwall, and he eventually moved there permanently to St.Ives in 1948. This change was to mark a new era in his writing career. While continuing to write short stories, he also launched the publication for which he is probably best known in Cornwall, The Cornish Review.

The Cornish Review was a timely addition to the Cornish artistic scene and featured poems, short stories, articles, art and book reviews. This quarterly magazine lasted three years and ten issues. In 1966 Val Baker revived the Review with much the same mixture, this time it lasted for twenty six issues until it folded in 1974.

In 1959 he published the acclaimed Britain's Art Colony By The Sea about the bustling artistic community in Cornwall, and particularly based around St. Ives. Denys lived in various different places in Cornwall as his family kept growing. The family life in Corwall was to provide the basis for many autobiographical, humorous books. The first of which, The Sea’s in The Kitchen, was published in 1962 by Phoenix House and was to be his best selling book since the forties. This was soon followed by The Door is Always Open in 1963 and eventually by another twenty four .

Another aspect of his life was his interest in the sea. When Denys was finally able to purchase his own boat, M.F.V. Sanu, an ex-navy supply tender, it was to be another exciting period which provided a lot of interesting copy for his books, short stories, and magazine articles.

In the 60's and 70's he continued with a prolific creative output, mainly through the publisher William Kimber. But finally, in the early eighties onwards Val Baker’s health began to deteriorate and he suffered excruciating pain from irritable bowel syndrome, an illness that seems to have practically curtailed his writing career.

On July 6th 1984 Denys Val Baker died at The West Cornwall Hospital, Penzance at the early age of sixty six exhausted by a stressful but action packed life that had produced fourteen novels, twenty two collections of short stories, twenty six autobiographies, over forty anthologies, another twenty books on general subjects as well as hundreds of short stories and articles for magazines throughout the world. The popularity of his books was reinforced when with the introduction of Public Lending Rights in the year of his death the royalties put him in the top 120 of most borrowed authors of over 6000 who had registered.

[edit] Family life

Denys' family life and career were very closely tied, more so than it is for most people, providing as it did much of the raw material for his writing.

He was married twice. His first marriage was to Patricia Johnson who he met in 1942 . They had one son, Martin, born in 1944. This marriage collapsed and ended in 1948. At this point Denys moved more or less permanently to Cornwall. He lived there for the rest of his life except for a three year sojourn in London and 1 year in Bermuda.

After a whirlwind romance he married Jess Bryan in 1949. Jess brought to the family Gillian (b.1945) and Jane (b.1947). The family slowly grew with the births of Stephen in 1949, Demelza in 1951, and Genevieve in 1954. They were still happily married when Denys died in 1984.

Denys, Jess, and family
Denys, Jess, and family

His life in Cornwall really began in 1948 when he rented a small cottage at the foot of Trencrom Hill just outside St Ives. But as the family quickly grew, following the marriage with Jess, they moved from Trencrom to Penzance and then to Sennen Cove.

Then, the Val Bakers were able to buy the seventeen room Old Vicarage, St Hilary, the house made famous by Bernard Walke’s fine book Twenty Years at St Hilary. At this time Jess took lessons with the potter David Leach in Penzance and soon opened up a studio pottery, to provide a bit of extra income. Twenty years later she was still running the Mask Pottery and thus providing much needed support for the family.

In 1954 the Val Bakers left St Hilary and moved to Kent and then to London. But 3 years later they returned to Cornwall to a tiny rented cottage in Virgin Street, St Ives and then in Church Place before in 1958 moving to the large and spectacular St Christopher's house overlooking Porthmeor beach. It was here that the pottery run by Jess began to be successful, and Denys would often be found there writing and serving customers at the same time. It was also here that Denys started on the first of the successful series of autobiographical books, inspired by family life at St Christopher's.

In 1967 the family uprooted again and moved to The Old Sawmills, a romantic, isolated, rambling house located in extensive woodland up a creek at Golant on the river Fowey approachable only by boat or walking along the China Clay Company’s railway, and it was here that Denys settled for five years, writing in an old shed/studio on the sunny side of the creek. By now most of the elder children had set out on their ways but they often returned with friends, and the Sawmills was always a very busy place. One of the reasons for this move was the safe mooring available for the newly purchased ex-navy supply tender M.F.V.Sanu. Meanwhile, the Mask Pottery in Fowey continued to be successfully run by Jess, with the help of Stephen and Demelza. Jess was suddenly offered the opportunity of running a course teaching the craft in Bermuda so she and Denys spent an unexpected year there.

On their return in 1972, with M.F.V.Sanu now moored in the Mediterranean, they started planning to move to another old millhouse, at Crean between St. Buryan and Land's End in 1972. As at Golant, Denys continued writing from a shed/studio by preference, while the rest of the family still had their separate little chalets apart from the main house itself. And still the now adult children would frequently visit with their friends. This was to be the last move, as the family is still living there to this day.

Along the cliff footpath at Zennor, there is a bench overlooking the sea, which is dedicated to the memory of Denys Val Baker, which provides a welcome breather for foot-path ramblers.

[edit] Bibliography

Published Work by DENYS VAL BAKER

[edit] Novels

  1. The White Rock: Sylvan Press, 1945
  2. The More We Are Together:Sampson Low,1947
  3. The Widening Mirror:Sampson Low, 1949
  4. A Journey With Love: Bridgehead USA 1955.
  5. The Title’s My Own : (as David Eames) Bless1955.
  6. The Faces Of Love : (no 4 revised) 1967.
  7. As The River Flows: Milton House, 1974.
  8. Company Of Three: Milton House, 1974.
  9. Don’t Lose Your Cool Dad:: Milton House 1975
  10. Barbican’s End: William Kimber:1979
  11. Rose: William Kimber: 1980.
  12. Karenza: William Kimber:1980 (no 1 revised)
  13. One Summer at St Merry:1980 (no2 revised)
  14. Frances: William Kimber: 1980 (no 3 revised)

[edit] Short Story Collections

  1. World’s Without End: Sylvan Press 1945.
  2. The Return Of Uncle Walter: Sampson Low1949
  3. Strange Fulfilment: Pyramid Books USA, 1959.
  4. The Flame Swallower: J. L. Lake, 1963.
  5. The Strange and the Damned: Pyramid, 1964.
  6. Bizarre Loves: Belmont Books, USA, 1964.
  7. Strange Possession: Pyramid 1965.
  8. Strange Journeys: Pyramid, 1966.
  9. The Face in the Mirror: Arkham House USA 1971.
  10. Woman & the Engine Driver UnitedWriters1972
  11. A Summer to Remember: William Kimber1975.
  12. Echoes from Cornish Cliffs: Kimber 1976.
  13. The Secret Place:: William Kimber 1977.
  14. Passenger to Penzance: William Kimber 1978.
  15. At the Sea’s Edge: William Kimber 1979.
  16. The House on the Creek: William Kimber 1981.
  17. Thomasina’s Island: William Kimber 1981.
  18. The Girl in the Photograph: Wm Kimber 1982.
  19. Martin’s Cottage: William Kimber1983.
  20. At the Rainbow’s End: William Kimber 1983.
  21. A Work of Art: William Kimber 1984.

[edit] Autobiographies

  1. The Sea’s in the Kitchen: Phoenix House 1962/ & Humdrumming Ltd 2006
  2. The Door is Always Open: Phoenix House1963.
  3. We’ll Go Round the World Tomorrow: 1965
  4. To Sea with Sanu: John Baker: 1967.
  5. Adventures Before Fifty: John Baker 1969.
  6. Life Up The Creek: John Baker 1971.
  7. The Petrified Mariner: William Kimber 1972.
  8. An Old Mill by the Stream: Wm Kimber 1973.
  9. Spring at Lands End: William Kimber 1974.
  10. Sunset Over the Scillies: William Kimber 1975.
  11. A View from the Valley: William Kimber 1976
  12. The Wind Blows from theWest:Kimber1977
  13. A Long Way to Lands End: Kimber1977
  14. All This and Cornwall Too: Kimber 1978.
  15. A Family for all Seasons: Wm Kimber 1979.
  16. As the Stream Flows By: WmKimber 1980.
  17. Upstream at the Mill: William Kimber 1981.
  18. A Family at Sea: William Kimber 1981.
  19. The Waterwheel Turns: William Kimber1982.
  20. Summer at the Mill: William Kimber 1982.
  21. Family Circles: William Kimber 1983.
  22. Down a Cornish Lane: William Kimber 1983.
  23. The Mill in the Valley: William Kimber1984.
  24. When Cornish Skies are Smiling: WK1984
  25. My Cornish World: William Kimber 1985.
  26. Cornish Prelude: William Kimber 1985.

[edit] Other Titles

  1. Paintings from Cornwall: Cornish Library1950
  2. Britain Discovers Herself: Johnson &Co1950.
  3. How to be An Author: Harvill Press 1952.
  4. The Pottery Book: Cassell 1959.
  5. Britain’s Art Colony by the Sea: Ronald1959
  6. How to be a Parent: TV. Boardman 1960.
  7. The Minack Theatre: George Ronald 1960.
  8. Pottery for Pleasure:&Profit (asDEames)1963
  9. Pottery Today: O.U.P.1961.
  10. Pottery: (as Henry Trevor) Constable 1963.
  11. The Young Potter: Nicholas Kaye 1963.
  12. Cornwall for the CornishPorthmeor Press1964
  13. Thy Neighbour’s Wife: 1964.
  14. The Timeless Land: Adams and Dart 1973.
  15. Fun With Pottery: Kaye & Ward 1973.
  16. The Spirit of Cornwall: W.H. Allen 1980
  17. Let’s make Pottery: Warne 1981.
  18. A View from Land’s End:William Kimber 1982

[edit] Edited Books

  1. Preludes : (Poetry Anthology) Opus Press 1942.
  2. Little Reviews: 1914-43 P.E.N. Books 1943.
  3. Little Reviews Anthologies: Allen & Unwin 1943, 44, 45, 46, 47/48 and 49.
  4. International Short Stories: W.H. Allen 1944.
  5. Writing Today: Staples & Staples 43, 44, 45 & 46.
  6. Modern Short Stories: Staples & Staples1943,44.
  7. Selected Stories: Staples & Staples 1944.
  8. Voyage: Sylvan Press 1945.
  9. Writers of Today: Sidgewick & Jackson !946& 48
  10. Modern British Writing: Vanguard (NY.).1947.
  11. One and All (Cornish Stories) Museum Press 1951
  12. London Aphrodite Bridgehead, USA 1955
  13. The Moods of Love: New English Library 1960
  14. The Tastes of Love: New English Library 1966
  15. The Ways of Love: New English Library 1969
  16. The Dreams of Love: New English Library 1969
  17. Haunted Cornwall: William Kimber 1973
  18. Cornish Short Stories: Penguin 1973
  19. Cornish Harvest: William Kimber 1974
  20. Stories of The Sea: William Kimber 1974
  21. Stories of Country Life: William Kimber 1975
  22. Stories of the Night: William Kimber 1976
  23. Stories of the Macabre: William Kimber 1976
  24. My Favourite Story: William Kimber 1977
  25. Stories of Horror and Suspense: Kimber1977
  26. Personal Choice: William Kimber 1977
  27. Stories of The Occult: William Kimber 1978
  28. TWELVE: Women’s Writing: W.H. Allen 1978
  29. Love is for Lovers: (as D. Valentine) Kimber 1978
  30. Women’s Writing 2: W.H. Allen 1979
  31. Stories of the Supernatural: Kimber 1979
  32. The Sea Survivors: W.H. Allen 1979
  33. Stories of Fear: William Kimber 1980
  34. Women’s Writing: Sidgewick and Jackson 1980
  35. Cornish Ghost Stories: William Kimber 1980
  36. Ghosts in Country House: William Kimber 1981
  37. When Churchyards Yawn: William Kimber 1982
  38. Stories of Haunted Inns: William Kimber 1982
  39. Ghosts in Country Villages: Kimber 1983
  40. Phantom Lovers: William Kimber 1984
  41. Haunted Travellers: William Kimber 1985

[edit] Literary Magazines Published

  1. Opus: Quarterly (1-14) in London around 1940-1943.
  2. Voices: Opus renamed around 1943-46
  3. Cornish Review: Quartely !949-52 & !966-74.

Plus hundreds of magazine articles and Short Stories too numerous to itemize.

[edit] References