Editing Alec Waugh (section)

==Biography==
Waugh was born in London to [[Arthur Waugh (author)|Arthur Waugh]] (1866-1943) and Catherine Charlotte Raban, a great-granddaughter of [[Henry Cockburn, Lord Cockburn|Lord Cockburn]] (1779–1854). Another distinguished ancestor was his great-great-grandfather &nbsp;[[William Morgan (actuary)|William Morgan]] FRS (1750–1833), a pioneer of actuarial science who served [[The Equitable Life Assurance Society]] for 56 years and who won the [[Copley Medal]] in 1789.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stannard |first=Martin |title=Evelyn Waugh The Early Years 1903-1939 |publisher=J M Dent & Sons Ltd |year=1986 |isbn=9780460046329 |edition=1st |pages=15}}</ref> Among ancestors bearing the Waugh name, the Rev. [[Alexander Waugh (minister)|Alexander Waugh]] D.D. (1754–1827) was a minister in the [[United Secession Church|Secession Church of Scotland]] who helped found the [[London Missionary Society]] and was one of the leading [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|Nonconformist]] preachers of his day.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stannard |first=Martin |title=Evelyn Waugh The Early Years 1903-1939 |publisher=J M Dent & Sons Ltd |year=1986 |isbn=9780460046329 |edition=1st |pages=12}}</ref> His grandson Alexander Waugh (1840–1906) was a country medical practitioner, who bullied his wife and children and became known in the Waugh family as "the Brute". The elder of Alexander's two sons, born in 1866, was Alec's father, Arthur.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hastings |first=Selina |title=Evelyn Waugh A Biography |publisher=Sinclair-Stevenson Ltd |year=1994 |isbn=9781856192231 |edition=1st |pages=Page 3}}</ref>

Alec was educated at [[Sherborne School]], a [[Public school (UK)|public school]] in Dorset. The result of his experiences was his first, semi-autobiographical novel, ''The Loom of Youth'' (July 1917), in which he dramatised his schooldays. The book was inspired by [[Arnold Lunn]]'s ''The Harrovians'', published in 1913 and discussed at some length in ''The Loom of Youth.''<ref>Alec Waugh, ''The Loom of Youth'' (London: Methuen 1984) p. 135 ''et seq.''</ref>

''The Loom of Youth'' was so controversial at the time (it mentioned homosexual relationships between boys, albeit in a very understated, staid fashion) that Waugh remains the only former pupil to be dismissed from the old boys' society (The Old Shirburnian Society). It was also a best seller.<ref>Alec Waugh, ''The Loom of Youth'' (London: Methuen 1984) p. 12.</ref> (The Society's website gives a different version: Alec and his father resigned and were not reinstated until 1933, while Evelyn went to a different school). [[Robert Graves]] wrote in a letter sent from Liverpool to his friend [[Siegfried Sassoon]], dated 9 September 1917, “That “Loom of Youth” book is amazingly good: I might have written it myself – no that sounds wrong but you understand: what a reckless man to write and publish it ! He is old [[Edmund Gosse|Gosse]]’s nephew or something and Gosse was very shy about it till he heard that it was in its fifth edition when he changed his tune.”<ref>https://portal.sds.ox.ac.uk/articles/online_resource/65884_Letter_To_Siegfried_Sassoon/25554936</ref> In 1932, the book was again the subject of controversy when [[Wyndham Lewis]]'s ''Doom of Youth'' seemed to suggest that Waugh's interest in schoolboys was because he was a homosexual. This was settled out of court.<ref>Bradford Morrow and Bernard Lafourcade, ''A Bibliography of the Writings of Wyndham Lewis'' (Santa Barbara: Black Sparrow Press, 1978), p.65</ref> In the mid-1960s, Alec donated the original manuscript, press clippings and correspondence with the publisher to the Society.<ref>The Old Shirburnian Society - Alec Waugh and The Loom of Youth</ref>

Waugh served in the British army in France during the [[First World War]], being commissioned in the [[Dorset Regiment]] in May 1917,<ref>[http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/30223/supplements/8112 ''London Gazette''] 7 August 1917. Page 6</ref> and seeing action at [[Battle of Passchendaele|Passchendaele]]. Captured by the Germans near Arras in March 1918, he spent the rest of the war in prisoner-of-war camps in [[Karlsruhe]] and in the [[Mainz Citadel]]. Waugh married his first wife, Barbara Annis Jacobs (1900–1996), in 1919.{{CN|date=December 2024}}

He later had a career as a successful author, although never as successful or innovative as that of his younger brother. He lived much of his life overseas, in exotic places such as [[Tangier]] &ndash; a lifestyle made possible by his second marriage in 1932 to a rich Australian, Joan Chirnside, only child and heiress of Andrew Spence Chirnside (1856-1934) of Edrington, Berwick, Victoria and Vite Vite, Derrinallum, Victoria,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Argus (Melbourne) |date=18 April 1934 |title=https://oa.anu.edu.au |url=https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/chirnside-andrew-spence-1088 |website=Obituaries Australia}}</ref> nephew of [[Thomas Chirnside]] of [[Werribee Park]]. His work, possibly in consequence, tended to be reminiscent of [[W. Somerset Maugham]], although without achieving Maugham's huge popular success. Nevertheless, his 1955 novel ''Island in the Sun'' was a best-seller. It was filmed in 1957 as ''[[Island in the Sun (film)|Island in the Sun]]'', securing from Hollywood the greatest amount ever paid for the use of a novel at that time.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/which-of-todays-novelists-will-stand-the-test-of-time/ Nicholas Shakespeare, "Which of today's novelists will stand the test of time?", ''The Daily Telegraph'', 9 January 2016]. Retrieved 22 February 2016</ref> His 1973 novel ''A Fatal Gift'' was also a success. Despite these successes, his waggish nephew Auberon once joked that Waugh "wrote many books, each worse than the last."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Waugh |first=Auberon |title=Will this do? the first fifty years of Auberon Waugh: an autobiography |date=1991 |publisher=Century |isbn=978-0-7126-3733-6 |location=London}}</ref><ref name="NYer">Joan Acocella, [http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2007/07/02/070702crbo_books_acocella "Waugh Stories: Life in a Literary Dynasty"], ''[[The New Yorker]]'', 2 July 2007.</ref>

Waugh served in the British army during the [[Second World War]] as an [[Intelligence officer|Intelligence Officer]]. He was posted to France (serving under [[Gerald Wellesley, 7th Duke of Wellington|Gerald Wellesley]], his Hampshire neighbour), Syria, the Lebanon, Egypt, and Iraq, ending the War with the rank of Major.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Waugh |first=Alec |title=The Best Wine Last: An autobiography through the years 1932-1969 |publisher=W H Allen |year=1978 |isbn=9780491023740 |edition=1st |pages=137–212}}</ref>

He was a wine connoisseur, and published ''In Praise of Wine & Certain Noble Spirits'' (1959), a light-hearted and discursive guide to the major wine types, and ''Wines and Spirits'', a 1968 book in the Time-Life series ''Foods of the World''.<ref>Ayto, John. (2006) ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=yfb4NIo3d20C&dq=rum+swizzle&pg=PA61 Movers And Shakers: A Chronology of Words That Shaped Our Age]''. Page 61. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-861452-7}}.</ref>

<!--UNCITED Waugh also merits a mention in the history of [[reggae]] music. The success of his novel ''Island in the Sun,'' and the subsequent film adaptation along with the [[Harry Belafonte]] title track [[Island in the Sun (Harry Belafonte song)|Island in the Sun]], provided inspiration as well as the name for [[Chris Blackwell]]'s successful [[Island Records]] record label.-->
In 1969, Waugh married the author [[Virginia Sorensen]], and they resided together in Morocco, then moved to the United States as his health failed. He died in Florida at the age of 83.