Rachel Trickett

Rachel Trickett
Born	20 December 1923(1923-12-20)
Died	24 June 1999(1999-06-24) (aged 75) Oxford, England
Nationality	United Kingdom
Occupation	academic
Known for	non-fiction writer

Rachel Trickett (20 December 1923 – 24 June 1999) was an English novelist, non‑fiction writer, literary scholar, and a prominent British academic; she served as Principal of St Hugh’s College, Oxford for nearly twenty years, between 1973 and 1991.

Trickett was educated at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. She became a lecturer in English at the University of Hull in 1946 and in 1954 she returned to Oxford as a fellow and tutor at St Hugh’s College.

Trickett was the author of the novel The Return Home (London, Constable & Co., 1952), and of The Course of Love (London, Constable & Co., 1954). Her The Honest Muse: A Study in Augustan Verse was published by Clarendon Press, Oxford, in 1967.

It is said that ‘she had a wicked eye for the conceit of academics, their insularity and devious manipulations’,^[1] an attitude which made her a soul‑mate of Erich Heller.

After she had retired as Principal of St Hugh's College, Rachel Trickett continued to share rooms with literature don Michael Gearin-Tosh. In 1994, five years before her eventual death, her friend was diagnosed with a severe cancer of the bone, myeloma.

She gave him her active support in finding the most suitable form of treatment. This became the dominant activity of her retirement as she agonised with him over the options and debated with Gearin-Tosh and his friends about the most suitable course of action. In the event, Michael Gearin-Tosh's choice of therapy was based on a rejection of conventional therapies and a reliance on acupuncture, meditation and dietary control.

References

• Gearin-Tosh, Michael (2002) Living Proof: a medical mutiny. ISBN 0743206770

Notes

1. ^ Michael Gearin-Tosh, ‘Rachel Trickett’, The Independent (London), June 30, 1999.

Persondata
Name	Trickett, Rachel
Alternative names
Short description	non-friction writer and academic
Date of birth	20 December 1923
Place of birth
Date of death	24 June 1999
Place of death	Oxford, England