William Graham Stanton

Infobox Writer
name = William Graham Stanton


imagesize =
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birthdate = birth date|1917|8|18
birthplace = Brightside, Sheffield
deathdate = death date and age|1999|12|6|1917|8|18 [cite web |url=http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andy.stanton/bill_stanton.htm |title= Bill Stanton 1917-1999 |accessdate=2007-10-07]
deathplace = York, North Yorkshire
occupation = Radio playwright
nationality = British
period =
genre =
subject =
movement =
spouse = Dorothy Stantoncite web |url=http://www.myvillage.com/sheffield/celebs&gossip-bill_stanton.htm |title= Bill Stanton |publisher= Myvillage.com |accessdate=2007-10-07]
partner =
children =
relatives =
influences =
influenced =


website = http://www.billstanton.co.uk/

William Graham "Bill" Stanton (August 18, 1917 - December 6, 1999) was a British author and radio playwright.

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Early life

William Graham Stanton was born in Brightside, Sheffield, the seventh of eight children of John Stanton (a blacksmith) and his wife.cite web
author =
title = Bill Stanton, Sheffield Author
publisher = Made in Sheffield Dot Com
url = http://www.made-in-sheffield.com/people/billstanton.htm
date =
accessdate = 2007-09-30 ] His upbringing was in a working class Methodist tradition. His later writings about his experiences as a child described an upbringing rich in love, event and interest.

Stanton's brothers, George and Arthur, were sent to Sheffield University. The depression of the 1930s denied Stanton's family the means to help him through university, and instead Stanton had to settle for sponsorship from the Sheffield Education Committee to train to be a teacher, after which he volunteered for the Army. During the war, he met and married Dorothy Walton from Millhouses, and after the war they ran a private school together. Starting in 1954, he worked for the Vickers-owned English Steel Corporation as a sales representative. When he retired in 1980, it was as Area Marketing Manager for British Steel in Leeds. [cite web |url=http://web.ukonline.co.uk/suttonelms/bstanton.html |title= Bill Stanton radio drama, radio plays |publisher= Diversity Website |accessdate=2007-10-07] Throughout his life, Stanton wrote both prose and verse, most of which was unpublished.

Writing career

In 1961, Stanton had a short story, "It was never Albert", published by BBC Radio on their Morning Story series. It was the first of a series of twenty-one stories presented by the BBC throughout the sixties and early seventies.

In 1969 he had his first radio play success. "The Compost Heap" [cite web
author =
title = Bill Stanton Radio Plays
publisher = Diversity Website
url = http://web.ukonline.co.uk/suttonelms/bstanton.html
date =
accessdate = 2007-09-30 ] , a play about an old man who had become a burden to his family, was the first of a prodigious output of radio plays. The BBC produced and broadcast ten of Stanton's plays in 1971, more than any other author. Stanton was delighted that they got Wilfred Pickles to play the principal character Albert Smith. He met Wilfred and they became firm friends. A young Tony Robinson also appeared in the play as the son-in-law Charlie.

In 1977, Stanton's first book "Treason For My Daily Bread" [cite web
author =W G Stanton
title = Treason For My Daily Bread
publisher = Vallency Press (F.H.Books Limited), Guernsey, British Isles ISBN 0905589009
url = http://www.billstanton.co.uk/novels/treason.htm
date = 1977
accessdate = 2007-10-02] was published. This was a fictional work around the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Stanton also wrote two unpublished books, "Fallout in Arden" [cite web
author =W G Stanton
title = Fallout In Arden
publisher = unpublished
url = http://www.billstanton.co.uk/novels/fallout.htm
date = 1995
accessdate = 2007-10-15] and "Moss" [cite web
author =W G Stanton
title = Moss
publisher = unpublished
url = http://www.billstanton.co.uk/novels/moss.htm
date = 1995
accessdate = 2007-10-14] , a semiautobiographical work.

Teaching and Lecturing

After his successes, Stanton was invited to lecture at weekend courses for aspiring writers. As a teacher, Stanton wanted to inspire rather than instruct. He placed a great emphasis on doing rather than talking. He arranged "workshops" rather than "courses," and out of this came a number of projects. One was the "Workshop 74" at St. Mary's College, Durham, and another was the "Writer's Tutorial." He compiled much of his thinking on writing in a writers manual, published privately by Writers Tutorial, "Write Through Rewrite". This was later revised and published as "Making Things Clear." [cite web
author =W G Stanton
title = Making Things Clear
publisher = The Parthenon Publishing Group Limited ISBN 1-85070-205-5
url = http://worldcat.org/isbn/1850702055
date = 1989
accessdate = 2007-10-02]

Later life and death

In 1992, Stanton enrolled at the University of York to read English and American Literature. This gave him the opportunity to study Shakespeare properly. While at York he translated the Middle English poem Pearl [cite web
author =W G Stanton
title = A Translation In Verse of The Middle English Poem Pearl
url = http://www.alliteration.net/Pearlman.html
date = 1995
accessdate = 2007-10-02] for his long assignment. When he graduated in June 1996 with a two one at the age of 79, he was University of York's oldest graduate ever.

Stanton fell ill on December 6th, 1999, and was taken to York District Hospital, where he died.

References

External links

[http://www.billstanton.co.uk Official site]