John Betjeman

John Betjeman

Sir John Betjeman, CBE ( /ˈbɛtʃəmən/; 28 August 1906 – 19 May 1984) was an English poet, writer and broadcaster who described himself in Who's Who as a "poet and hack".

He was a founding member of the Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture. Starting his career as a journalist, he ended it as one of the most popular British Poets Laureate to date and a much-loved figure on British television.

Read more about John Betjeman:  Poetry, Betjeman and Architecture, Legacy, Honours, Poetry Collections, Bibliography

Famous quotes containing the words john and/or betjeman:

    Quintilian [educational writer in Rome about A.D. 100] hoped that teachers would be sensitive to individual differences of temperament and ability. . . . Beating, he thought, was usually unnecessary. A teacher who had made the effort to understand his pupil’s individual needs and character could probably dispense with it: “I will content myself with saying that children are helpless and easily victimized, and that therefore no one should be given unlimited power over them.”
    —C. John Sommerville (20th century)

    People’s backyards are much more interesting than their front gardens, and houses that back on to railways are public benefactors.
    —Sir John Betjeman (1906–1984)