E. R. Braithwaite (1912–2016)
Autor(a) de To Sir, With Love
About the Author
Eustace Edward Ricardo Braithwaite was born in Georgetown, British Guiana on June 27, 1912. He studied at Queen's College, Guyana and at the City College of New York. He moved to Britain after working at an oil refinery in Aruba. In 1940, he volunteered for service in the Royal Air Force. In 1949, mostrar mais he received a master's degree in physics from Cambridge University. From 1960 to 1963, he was a human-rights officer at the World Veterans Federation and from 1963 to 1966, he was a lecturer and education consultant at Unesco. From 1967 to 1969, he served as the first permanent representative of Guyana to the United Nations. He was later Guyana's ambassador to Venezuela. He taught at several universities including Howard University, New York University, and Florida State University. He wrote several books during his lifetime including Paid Servant, A Kind of Homecoming, Choice of Straws, Reluctant Neighbors, and Honorary White: A Visit to South Africa. To Sir, With Love, a memoir of teaching in London's deprived East End, was adapted into a film starring Sidney Poitier in 1967. He died on December 12, 2016 at the age of 104. (Bowker Author Biography) mostrar menos
Image credit: E.R. Braithwaite in the early 1960s.
Obras de E. R. Braithwaite
Associated Works
The Penguin Book of Migration Literature: Departures, Arrivals, Generations, Returns (2019) — Contribuinte — 71 cópias
Reader's Digest Best Sellers: The Source | Intern | Hotel St. Gregory | To Sir, With Love (1966) 20 cópias
Etiquetado
Conhecimento Comum
- Outros nomes
- Braithwaite, Eustace Edward Ricardo (birth name)
Braithwaite, Ricky - Data de nascimento
- 1912-06-27
- Data de falecimento
- 2016-12-12
- Sexo
- male
- Nacionalidade
- Guyana
- Local de nascimento
- Georgetown, British Guiana
- Local de falecimento
- Rockville, Maryland, USA
- Locais de residência
- Georgetown, Guyana
New York, New York, USA
Cambridge, England, UK
London, England, UK
Washington, DC, USA - Educação
- Gonville and Caius, Cambridge (MSc ∙ Phd ∙ Physics|1949)
City College of New York - Ocupação
- teacher
social worker
diplomat
academic
novelist - Organizações
- United Nations
Howard University
World Veterans Federation
UNESCO
Royal Air Force - Premiações
- Cacique Crown of Honour (2012)
Anisfield-Wolf Book Award (1961) - Pequena biografia
- Edward Ricardo Braithwaite (born June 27, 1912 in Georgetown, Guyana) is a Guyanese novelist, writer, teacher, and diplomat, best known for his partially autobiographical accounts of his career experiences as a highly educated black man in a range of public service and professional roles. Braithwaite had a privileged beginning in life: both his parents went to Oxford University and he describes growing up with education, achievement, and parental pride surrounding him. He attended Queen's College, Guyana and then the City College of New York (1940). During World War II, he joined the Royal Air Force as a pilot - he would later describe this experience as one where he had felt no discrimination based on his skin colour or ethnicity. He went on to attend the University of Cambridge (1949), from which he earned a bachelor's degree and a doctorate in physics. After the war, like many other ethnic minorities, despite his extensive training, Braithwaite could not find work in his field and, disillusioned, reluctantly took up a job as a schoolteacher in the East End of London. The book To Sir, With Love (1959) was based on his experiences there. While writing his book about the school, Braithwaite turned to social work and it became his job to find foster homes for non-white children for the London County Council. His harrowing experiences resulted in his second novel Paid Servant (1962). Braithwaite's numerous writings have primarily dealt with the difficulties of being an educated black man, a black social worker, a black teacher, and simply a human being in inhumane circumstances. In 1973, the South African ban on Braithwaite's books was lifted and he reluctantly applied to visit the country. He was granted a visa and the status 'Honorary White' which gave him significantly more freedom and privileges than the indigenous black population, but less than the whites. He recorded the experiences and horror he witnessed during the six weeks he spent in South Africa in Honorary White. Braithwaite continued to write novels and short stories throughout his long international career as an educational consultant and lecturer for UNESCO; permanent representative to the United Nations for Guyana; Guyana's ambassador to Venezuela; and academic. He taught English studies at New York University; in 2002, was writer in residence at Howard University, Washington, D.C.; associated himself with Manchester Community College, Connecticut, during the 2005-2006 academic year as visiting professor, also serving as commencement speaker and receiving an honorary degree.
Membros
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Associated Authors
Estatísticas
- Obras
- 8
- Also by
- 7
- Membros
- 1,464
- Popularidade
- #17,551
- Avaliação
- 3.9
- Resenhas
- 29
- ISBNs
- 97
- Idiomas
- 1
Premise/plot: Historical fiction/autobiographical novel. Set in the East End (I believe) of London during the mid/late 1940s. [I *want* to say that the year 1947 was used???] Mr. Braithwaite doesn't want to be a teacher. He really doesn't. But with limited opportunities for employment--complicated in part by the color of his skin--he accepts the job reluctantly and with some bitterness. [In the movie, the bitterness was disguised much more. Here the text ripples with anger, bitterness, dare I say hate???] He doesn't seem to enjoy teaching, for the most part, or like most of his coworkers [with the exception of a few], and he definitely doesn't enjoy being around his students--not really. But over the course of a year--a little less than a year--he comes to better terms with his life. I wouldn't say he ever comes to love it though.
My thoughts: The book may be a thousand times truer to life. But. I will always prefer the movie. I knew a little of what to expect from watching the movie, but, nothing really prepared me for the author's narrative style. It was a little earthy/crude for my personal taste. [Like did every thought the teacher had about breasts have to be included??? Like noticing his students, coworkers, fellow bus riders, etc.] It is definitely a race book--for better or worse. He felt less discriminated against during the war, and settling back down he was unprepared for how much prejudice he would [still] encounter in his day to day life. He does date one of his white coworkers--a fellow teacher--and the two do face some problems.… (mais)