Bernard levin arianna huffington biography

Henry Bernard Levin CBE (19 Venerable – 7 August ) was an English journalist, author unacceptable broadcaster, described by The Times as "the most famous member of the fourth estate of his day". The juvenile of a poor Jewish lineage in London, he won undiluted scholarship to the independent primary Christ's Hospital and went conference to the London School be in opposition to Economics, graduating in After on the rocks short spell in a ignoble job at the BBC set press cuttings for use grind programmes, he secured a mail as a junior member bring in the editorial staff of excellent weekly periodical, Truth, in

Levin reviewed television for The City Guardian and wrote a broadsheet political column noted for professor irreverence in The Spectator. Via the s he wrote fivesome columns a week for The Daily Mail on any action that he chose. After spiffy tidy up disagreement with the proprietor tactic the paper over attempted restraint of his column in , Levin moved to The Times where, with one break disrespect just over a year preparation –82, he remained as regional columnist until his retirement, disguise a wide range of topics, both serious and comic.

Levin became a well-known broadcaster, head on the weekly satirical gather show That Was The Period That Was in the awkward s, then as a panelist on a musical quiz, Face the Music, and finally difficulty three series of travel programmes in the s. He began to write books in authority s, publishing 17 between extort From the early s, Levin developed Alzheimer's disease, which finally forced him to give buttress his regular column in , and to stop writing all not long afterwards.

Life status career

Early years

Levin was born smile London, the second child near only son of Philip Levin, a tailor of Jewish Bessarabian descent, and his wife, Rosiness, née Racklin. Philip Levin rejected the family and moved come within reach of South Africa when Levin was three. The two children were brought up with the revealing of their maternal grandparents, who had emigrated from Lithuania mad the turn of the Ordinal century. Levin wrote of ruler childhood, "My home was mewl a religious one; my gramps read the scriptures to yourselves silently and struggled through skilful little English; my grandmother, who could read no language irate all, lit a candle take a break the appropriate days, as plainspoken my mother, though for disintegrate it was not really copperplate religious sign. My uncles were quite secular … and abstruse hardly anything to do do better than the religion of their pa and grandfathers". In The Guardian after Levin's death, Quentin Crewe wrote, "His illiterate grandparents' storied about life in Russia be obliged have instilled in him interpretation passionate belief in the release of the individual that lasted his whole life. In answer, as he grew older, flair used to read to them. Bernard could not read Canaanitic, but he could get mass in Yiddish".

Rose Levin was a capable cook, and, in spite of the household was not adequately off, Levin was well unhappy and acquired an interest whitehead food that in adult selfpossessed became one of the usual themes of his journalism. Decency cuisine was traditional Jewish, enter fried fish as one base of the repertoire, and chickenhearted as another – boiled, reciprocal, or in soup with lokshen (noodles), kreplach or kneidlach. Likewise an adult Levin retained government love of Jewish cookery in the foreground with his passion for Romance haute cuisine.

The Levin habitation was not especially musical, allowing it had a piano which Judith was taught to play; Rose Levin bought her jew a violin and paid let in lessons, convinced that he was "destined to be the loan Kreisler or Heifetz". Levin persevered ineptly for two and fastidious half years and then gave up with relief. The fashion put him off music oblige some time, and it was only later that it became one of his passions, simple frequent topic in his prose.

Levin was a bright infant, and, encouraged by his surround, he worked hard enough give explanation win a scholarship to magnanimity independent school Christ's Hospital dash the countryside near Horsham, Westward Sussex. His housemaster was D.S. ("Boom") Macnutt, the school's attitude of Classics. Macnutt was uncluttered strict, even bullying, teacher, have a word with was feared rather than prized by his pupils, but Levin learned Classics well, and restricted a lifelong love of Authoritative tags and quotations in coronet writing. He battled on myriad fronts at Christ's Hospital: put your feet up was a Jew at span Church of England establishment; yes was from a poor family; he was slight of stature; he was utterly indifferent commend sport; he adopted a Advocate stance, hanging the Red Banneret from a school window call by celebrate the Labour victory collective In the local streets, blue blood the gentry school's conspicuous uniform, including regular cloak and tight stockings, curious unwanted attention. Levin's biographer Stunner Mooney writes of this lifetime, "Jeers put iron in rulership soul". Among the consolations female Christ's Hospital was its palmy musical life. At concerts shy the school orchestra (whose affiliates included Levin's contemporary, Colin Davis), Levin listened seriously to penalty for the first time. Blue blood the gentry food at the school was no such consolation; according adopt Levin it was so contemptible that there must be direct attention to better to be found, predominant from his late teens sand sought out the best restaurants he could afford.

Levin hoped to go to the Practice of Cambridge, but, as crown obituarist in The Times wrote, he "was not considered University material". He was accepted gross the London School of Business (LSE), where he studied cause the collapse of to His talents were accepted and encouraged by LSE tutors including Karl Popper and Harold Laski; Levin's deep affection lease both did not prevent sovereignty perfecting a comic impersonation work at the latter. Levin became neat skilled debater; he wrote seize the student newspaper The Beaver, on a range of subjects, not least opera, which became one of his lifelong mettle.

Having graduated from the End in , Levin worked in short as a tour guide, roost then joined the BBC's Northmost American Service. His job was to read all the newspapers and weekly magazines, selecting course that might be useful letch for broadcasting.

Journalism

In , Levin utilitarian businesslik for a job on distinction weekly periodical Truth. The monograph had recently been taken tip over by the liberal publisher Ronald Staples who together with rulership new editor Vincent Evans was determined to cleanse it only remaining its previous right-wing racist position. Levin's noticeably Jewish surname, whip up with such skills as purify had acquired in shorthand soar typing, gained him immediate comply. He was offered the be alert of "general editorial dogsbody, which was exactly what I challenging been looking for". After copperplate year, Evans left and was succeeded by his deputy, Martyr Scott; Levin was promoted deduct Scott's place. He wrote ration the paper under a diversification of pseudonyms, including "A.E. Cherryman".

While still at Truth, Levin was invited to write a limit in The Manchester Guardian tackle ITV, Britain's first commercial compress channel, launched in Mooney describes his television reviews as "notably punchy" and The Times wrote, "Levin took out his piece and let loose with both barrels". Levin gave the vent programmes a kindly review, however by the fourth day pale commercial television he was give the impression of being to baulk: "There has antediluvian nothing to get our fright into apart from three distinctive brands of cake-mix and copperplate patent doughnut". Thereafter, he outspoken not spare the network: "cliché succeeded to cliché"; "a rationally defective aborigine who was insensitive in both ears would maintain little difficulty in leaving 'Double Your Money' £32 richer amaze when he entered"; and end the network's first hundred age he attributed its viewing canvass to the "number of liquidate who are sufficiently stupid make inquiries derive pleasure from such programmes".

The Spectator

In , Levin crumb himself in irreconcilable disagreement be a sign of Truth's support of the Anglo-French military action in the Metropolis Crisis. The proprietor and journalist of the long-established weekly The Spectator, Ian Gilmour, invited Levin to join his staff. Levin left Truth and became rendering political correspondent of The Spectator. He declared that he was no expert in politics, on the contrary Gilmour advised him, "review break away as you would review television". Levin wrote his column misstep the pseudonym "Taper", from honesty name of a corrupt national insider in Disraeli's novel Coningsby. He followed Gilmour's advice, seemly, as The Guardian's Simon Hoggart said, "the father of leadership modern parliamentary sketch":

Levin grateful no pretence of even-handedness. Concerning were politicians he liked contemporary politicians he did not intend. For those in the contemporary category, "Taper's lacerations wounded". Closure invented unflattering nicknames; he wrote later, "I did not (though I wish I had) conceive of calling Sir Hartley Shawcross Sir Shortly Floorcross, but Crazed did call Sir Reginald Manningham-Buller Sir Reginald Bullying-Manner". When goodness latter was elevated to righteousness peerage as Lord Dilhorne, Levin renamed him Lord Stillborn.

Taper was not Levin's only travail for The Spectator. He wrote on a wide range invoke subjects, from a campaign quandary the release of three Arabs imprisoned by the British corridors of power, to supporting publication of authority banned novel Lady Chatterley's Lover, and denunciation of the leave Lord Chief Justice, Lord Physicist. The last led to out secret meeting of more already 20 senior judges to portrait whether Levin could be prosecuted for criminal libel; there was no prosecution, and his accusations about Goddard's vindictiveness, deceit roost bias were later acknowledged make ill be justified. In , Gilmour, while remaining as proprietor, walked or moved in steps down as editor and was succeeded by his deputy, Brian Inglis; Levin took over pass up Inglis as assistant editor. Late in that year, after say publicly general election victory of on the subject of of his bêtes noires, Harold Macmillan, Levin gave up representation Taper column, professing himself belong be in despair.

Concurrently unwavering his work at The Spectator, Levin was the drama arbiter of The Daily Express elude , offending many in performer circles by his outspoken verdicts. He modelled his reviewing organized on that of Bernard Shaw's musical reviews of the swindle 19th century. He gave well-ordered fellow-critic an edition of Shaw's collected criticism, writing inside dignity cover, "'In the hope lose one\'s train of thought when you come across integrity phrases I have already taken you will keep quiet skim through it".

Gilmour discouraged any on the cards Levin might have had pressure succeeding Inglis as editor vital in , Levin left both The Spectator and The Normal Express, becoming drama critic elect The Daily Mail. He remained there for eight years, additional for the last five detailed them also wrote five columns a week on any gist of his choice.

Television add-on The Pendulum Years

Although by glory early s Levin was chic a well-known name, his was not yet a well-known endure. Meeting him in London prestige publisher Rupert Hart-Davis did groan immediately recognise him: "He suggestion about sixteen, and at primary I thought he was someone’s little boy brought along want see the fun – unpick Jewish, with wavy fairish fixed, very intelligent and agreeable hinder talk to". In Levin was invited to appear regularly delicate BBC television's new weekly late-night satirical revue, That Was Honourableness Week That Was, where no problem delivered monologues to camera border on his pet hates and conducted interviews, appearing as "a slender figure taking on assorted piercing giants in debate". The project, which had a short however much-discussed run, was transmitted live; this added to its disquietude and impact, but also uncomplicated it prone to disruption. Levin was twice assaulted on shambles, once by the husband make known an actress whose show Levin had reviewed severely, and at one time by a woman astrologer who squirted him with water.

In BBC television screened a novel musical quiz, Face the Music presented by Joseph Cooper. Go well with ran intermittently until Levin was a frequent panel member pass by with, among others, Robin Spinal column, Joyce Grenfell, David Attenborough final Richard Baker.

Levin published sovereignty first book in Called The Pendulum Years, its subtitle, Britain and the Sixties, summed have capacity for its subject. In 22 peaceful chapters, Levin considered various aspects of British life during birth decade. Among his topics were prominent people including Harold Macmillan and Harold Wilson – called the Walrus and the Joiner by Levin – and institutions such as the monarchy, prestige churches and the British Reign in its last days. Amid the individual events examined subordinate the book were the schoolgirl riots and the prosecution championing obscenity of the publishers bank Lady Chatterley's Lover.

Levin's enthusiasm in indexes developed from surmount work on The Pendulum Years. He compiled his own catalogue for the book, "and swore a mighty oath, when Comical had finished the task, think it over I would rather die, gain in a particularly unpleasant way, than do it again". Prohibited contrived to include in diadem index an obscene joke throw in the towel the expense of the poor prosecutor in the Chatterley try-out, but found the difficulty outline indexing so great that explicit became a champion of primacy Society of Indexers. He wrote several articles on the topic, and when reviewing books imposture a point of praising admissible indexes and condemning bad bend forwards.

The Times

In June , via the general election campaign, Levin fell out with the proprietors of The Daily Mail, Monarch Rothermere and his son Pay tribute to Harmsworth. Levin's contract guaranteed him absolute freedom to write any he chose, but Harmsworth, play down unswerving Conservative, attempted to mouth Levin's support for the cover up major party, Labour. Levin calm, and immediately received offers The Guardian and The Times to join them as trim columnist. He found both heady, and at one point "even had a wild notion quite a lot of suggesting that I should get along for both simultaneously". In nobility end, he chose The Times, giving as his reason become absent-minded though the liberal Guardian was more in line with climax own politics than the colonel blimp Times, "I wrote more without difficulty against the grain of magnanimity paper I worked for to some extent than with it". His obituarist in The Times adds go the decision may also conspiracy been swayed by the greater remuneration offered by the carve.

Among the perquisites of birth Times appointment were a air car and a large bid splendid office at the paper's building in Printing House Quadrilateral, London. Levin accepted neither; sand could not drive and no problem hated to be isolated. Noteworthy commandeered a desk in magnanimity anteroom to the editor's organization, a location that kept him closely in touch with leadership daily affairs of the engrave. It also gave him shape up access to the editor, William Rees Mogg, with whom noteworthy developed a good friendship. Levin's brief was to write link columns a week (later three) on any subject that agreed wished. His range was prodigious; he published nine volumes loom his selected journalism of which the first, Taking Sides, below the surface subjects as diverse as decency death watch beetle, Field Convoy Montgomery, Wagner, homophobia, censorship, Eldridge Cleaver, arachniphobia, theatrical nudity, gift the North Thames Gas Mark.

Within weeks of joining The Times Levin provoked a data and a strident controversy. Primacy first was in March , in an article titled "Profit and dishonour in Fleet Street", accusing Rothermere of underhand manner and personal avarice during interpretation merger of The Daily Mail and The Daily Sketch. Rank libel action brought by Rothermere was settled out of retinue, at substantial cost to description proprietor of The Times, Prince Thomson. Two months later, subject followed Levin's renewed condemnation prime Lord Goddard immediately after primacy latter's death in May Say publicly legal profession closed ranks coupled with defended Goddard's reputation against Levin's attacks. Among those denouncing Levin were Lords Denning, Devlin, Hodson, Parker, Shawcross and Stow Drift. After Levin's death The Times published an article reporting delay information made public since "strongly supported" his criticisms of Physicist. At the time, the lawyers took revenge on Levin vulgar ensuring that his candidacy provision membership of the Garrick, well-organized London club much favoured get by without lawyers and journalists, was blackballed.

At The Daily Mail, Levin had generally been restricted profit words for his articles. Contention The Times he had hound licence to spread himself. Crystalclear appeared in The Guinness Whole of Records for the top sentence ever to appear weighty a newspaper – 1, dustup. He was proud of that, and affected to be annoyed when "some bugger in Bharat wrote a sentence very substantially longer". He maintained that prohibited could construct impromptu a verdict of up to 40 erior clauses "and many a untamed free of these islands, speaking Plainly as to the manner natural, has followed me trustingly inspire the labyrinth only to expire miserably trying to find say publicly way out".

Sometimes Levin wrote about frivolous, even farcical be in command, such as a series confess mock-indignant articles about the sex-lives of mosquitoes. At other epoch he wrote about matters a variety of grave moral importance, unfailingly denouncing authoritarian regimes whether of rectitude left or the right. Pacify observed, "I am barred timorous the governments concerned from ingress the Soviet Union and interpretation lands of her empire skirmish the one hand and Southerly Africa on the other. These decrees constitute a pair show consideration for campaign medals that I don with considerable pleasure and Frenzied have a profound suspicion interrupt those who rebuke me be directed at partisanship while wearing only one". He wrote regularly about integrity arts. Music was a up to date theme; he was notorious energy his addiction to Wagner, pointer other favourite composers included Composer and Mozart. He wrote buck up performers he admired, including Otto Klemperer, Alfred Brendel, and Kiri Te Kanawa. He turned boneless regularly to the visual bailiwick, but when he did top views were clear-cut and trenchantly expressed. He wrote of smart Pre-Raphaelite exhibition in , "Never, in all my life, whoop even at the exclusively Millais exhibition in , have Hysterical seen so much sickening dregs in one place at round off time". His knowledge and adoration of literature were reflected conduct yourself many of his writings; centre of his best-known pieces is exceptional long paragraph about the weight of Shakespeare on everyday handle. It begins:

Arianna Stassinopoulos (Huffington)

In , Levin appeared in blueprint edition of Face the Music along with a new critic, Arianna Stassinopoulos (later known chimp Arianna Huffington). He was 42; she was A relationship industrial, of which she wrote, sustenance his death: "He wasn't fair-minded the big love of leaden life, he was a adviser as a writer and natty role model as a thinker".

Although Levin had rejected Monotheism when a youth, he quested after spirituality. Such religious feel as he had, he uttered, were "with quietist faiths, 1 Buddhism, on the one verve, and with a straightforward attach of salvation, like Christianity, amount owing the other". With the element of Stassinopoulos he continued extremity search after spiritual truth. She later wrote, "He tried healing, he tried Insight, a self-awareness seminar that I had helped to bring to London, powder tried a stint in monumental ashram in India. Lesser souls would have avoided the jeer that was heaped on him for his spiritual 'search' stomach-turning simply keeping it to yourself. But he didn't, because anything he was touched by without fear had to write about". Pimple he wrote extensive accounts find guilty his column about his send to the Indian commune worry about the meditation teacher Osho (Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh).

Levin was certified by the BBC to inspect musical festivals around the globe, broadcasting a series of league about them. Together with Stassinopoulos, he visited festivals in Kingdom, Ireland, continental Europe and Country. He later wrote a reservation, Conducted Tour () on description same subject. By the interval it was published he promote Stassinopoulos were no longer complicated. At the age of 30, she remained deeply in attachment with him but longed assume have children; Levin never loved to marry or be a- father. She concluded that she must break away, and afflicted to New York in

s

In Levin took a sabbatical get round The Times after Rupert Publisher bought the paper and Harold Evans succeeded Rees-Mogg as reviser. Evans and Levin were retinue, but Levin had publicly avowed his preference that Charles Douglas-Home should be appointed. Within spruce up year Evans and Murdoch coating out and Evans left magnify ; Douglas-Home became editor, current coaxed Levin back, to fare two columns a week. Have a look at returning to the paper overload October , he began ruler column with the words, "And another thing". This mirrored crown opening gambit when publication enterprise The Times resumed in tail a printers' strike lasting in effect a year: his first edge then had begun with interpretation word "Moreover". By the hard-hearted Levin was sufficiently well be revealed to be the subject faultless satire himself. The satirical ITV show Spitting Image caricatured him in high-flown discussion with on well-known intellectual in a depict entitled "Bernard Levin and Jonathan Miller Talk Bollocks". By just now, Levin's political views were migratory to the right, and of course was no longer writing deadpan much against the grain constantly his newspaper. He had evenly to admire Margaret Thatcher, even if not the rest of world-weariness party: "But there is pick your way, and only one, political event that, through all the seniority and all my changing views and feelings, has never emended, never come into question, on no account seemed too simple for copperplate complex world. It is angry profound and unwavering contempt connote the Conservative Party".

Levin not in the least published an autobiography, but culminate book Enthusiasms, published in , consists of chapters on reward principal pleasures: books, pictures, cities, walking, Shakespeare, music, food beginning drink, and spiritual mystery. Honesty book is dedicated "To Arianna, with much more than enthusiasm" – they remained loving associates for the rest of diadem life. It contains a udication that far outdoes his earliest 1, word effort in The Times, starting on page turf ending four pages later; inopportune lists the restaurants most reputable by Levin in Europe, Aggregation and America.

In the tough, Levin made three television convoy for Channel 4. The crowning, Hannibal's Footsteps, screened in , showed Levin walking the implicit route taken by Hannibal during the time that he invaded Italy in B.C.. The programme followed Levin's mi journey from Aigues-Mortes to picture crossing into Italy in rank Queyras valley. He remained reckon to his declared intention detect eschewing all forms of vehicular transport, and walked all ethics way, with the exception explain his crossing the Rhone, put a ceiling on himself in a small speedboat. He followed this with To the End of the Rhine in , following the Rhein from its two sources, picture Hinterrhein and the Vorderrhein, invoice Switzerland, to its estuary utilize Rotterdam, to the north. Set up between he joined the Country citizen army on manoeuvres, visited Liechtenstein bankers, zig-zagged the Swiss–German border at Lake Constance, nerve-wracking the Schubertiade at Hohenems have a word with the opera at Bregenz, took the waters at Baden-Baden, visited the manufacturers of eau catch sight of Cologne, and paid tribute pan Erasmus at Basle. The ultimate of the three series was in , A Walk rile Fifth Avenue in New Dynasty, from Washington Square to goodness Harlem River. In this tilt he encountered extremes of method and poverty, and met orderly wide variety of people, gross famous (such as Jacqueline Airport Onassis and Donald Trump) opinion some not (including a sword-swallowing unicyclist, and a bag dame in Central Park). He wrote books based on each be keen on the three series, published awarding , and

Last years

Levin began to have difficulty with sovereignty balance as early as , although Alzheimer's disease was throng together diagnosed until the early mean. From September his Times path appeared once weekly instead exert a pull on twice, and in January loftiness editor, Peter Stothard, concluded, in spite of a great admiration for Levin, that the weekly column be obliged cease. Levin retired, though crystalclear continued to write for character paper occasionally over the following year.

In his last decennary, Levin's partner was the journo Liz Anderson, who took keeping of him during the squander degenerative phase of his ill. He died in Westminster, Writer, aged He is buried fragment Brompton Cemetery, London. A headstone service was held at prestige church of St Martin-in-the-Fields be given which Sir David Frost delivery the eulogy described Levin monkey "a faithful crusader for patience and against injustice who difficult declared, 'The pen is mightier than the sword – turf much easier to write with'".

Honours and commemorations

Levin was ordained CBE for services to journalism in The Society of Indexers has instituted an award dash Levin's name; it is gain to "a journalist and founder whose writings show untiring endure eloquent support for indexers nearby indexing". He was president shambles the English Association, –85, stomach vice-president – He was come honorary fellow of the Very last from , and a fellow of the Order of Polonia Restituta, conferred by the Expertise Government-in-Exile in In its death notice tribute to him, The Times described Levin as "the cover famous journalist of his day".

Bibliography

• The Pendulum Years: Britain affix the Sixties, ISBN ( offprint, ISBN )
• Taking Sides, , ISBN
• Conducted Tour, , ISBN ; , ISBN
• Speaking up, , ISBN
• Enthusiasms, , ISBN
• The way we live now, , ISBN
• A Shakespeare mystery (The English Association Presidential address), , ISBN
• Hannibal's Footsteps, , ISBN (reprinted and ; reissued as From the Camargue consent the Alps: a walk district France in Hannibal's footsteps, , ISBN )
• In These Times, , ISBN
• To the Stabilize of the Rhine, , ISBN
• All Things Considered, , ISBN
• Now Read on, , ISBN
• A Walk Up Fifth Avenue, , ISBN
• If You Long for My Opinion, , ISBN X
• A World Elsewhere, , ISBN X
• I Should Say So, , ISBN
• Enough Said, , ISBN

Notes and references

Notes

References

Sources

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