Douglas Cleverdon

(Thomas) Douglas James Cleverdon (17 January 1903 – 1 October 1987)^[1] was an English bookseller and radio producer, in both fields associated with numerous leading cultural figures in the United Kingdom.

Early life

He was educated at Bristol Grammar School and Jesus College, Oxford. He then set up a bookshop in Bristol.^[2] From there he also published.

His first book published was a collection of engravings by Eric Gill, who later made a Book of Alphabets for Douglas Cleverdon. In 1927 he commissioned David Jones to make a set of copper engravings for The Rime of the Ancient Mariner..^[3]

Radio work

In 1939 he joined the BBC, where he co-created The Brains Trust with fellow producer Howard Thomas.^[4] From 1945 he was in the department headed by Laurence Gilliam.^[5] Later, in 1948, Cleverdon would adapt and produce David Jones's major poem In Parenthesis for radio, with Richard Burton and Dylan Thomas,^[6] for BBC Radio's Third Programme. In 1954 Cleverdon produced Under Milk Wood, the premier of the Dylan Thomas dramatic poem; according to Jenny Abramsky it had taken seven years to persuade Thomas to write it.^[7]

He produced programmes for them featuring Max Beerbohm, Ted Hughes, Stevie Smith and many other poets.^[8] Sylvia Plath wrote Three Women: A Poem for Three Voices for Cleverdon, in March 1962.^[9] There are at least 232 scripts produced by Cleverdon archived.^[10][11]

He married Elinor Nest Lewis in 1944; she was a secretary at the BBC, and they provided a social focus for producers and performers.^[12]

Later life

On leaving the BBC, he set up a fine publishing imprint, Clover Hill Editions, with Will Carter.

Notes

1. ^ Wells, John (2004). "Cleverdon, (Thomas) Douglas James (1903–1987)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online edition, subscription access). Oxford University Press. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/40154. Retrieved 2008-04-30. 
2. ^ Cleverdon Mss. Ii
3. ^ Keith Aldritt, David Jones: Writer and Artist, p. 65.
4. ^ Thomas, Howard With An Independent Air London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson 1977 ISBN 0-297-77278-3
5. ^ Asa Briggs, The History of Broadcasting in the United Kingdom (1995), p. 348.
6. ^ The Official Richard Burton Website
7. ^ BBC - Press Office - Jenny Abramsky Oxford lecture one
8. ^ John Betjeman: Letter Volume One: 1926 to 1951, p. 556.
9. ^ Nephie Christodoulides, Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking: Motherhood in Sylvia Plath's Work (2005), p. 137.
10. ^ University of Delaware: BBC THIRD PROGRAMME RADIO SCRIPTS
11. ^ Further list http://marbl.library.emory.edu/FindingAids/content.php?id=bbc1055_10255
12. ^ Obituary of Nest Cleverdon

Persondata
Name	Cleverdon, Douglas
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	17 January 1903
Place of birth
Date of death	1 October 1987
Place of death