Winston Churchill (novelist) - Confusion With The British Statesman

Confusion With The British Statesman

Churchill met and occasionally communicated with the British statesman and author Winston Churchill (no known relation). It was the American Churchill who became famous earlier, and in the 1890s he was much better known than his British counterpart. The two are still occasionally confused, although the British Churchill wrote only one novel, Savrola, being better known for his popular histories and journalism.

Both Churchills had political careers, and were both noted amateur painters. The similarities extend to their tertiary education; both attended service colleges and briefly served simultaneously as officers in their respective countries' armed forces.

The British Churchill, upon becoming aware of the American Churchill's books, wrote to him suggesting that he would sign his own works "Winston S. Churchill", using his middle name (actually part of his surname), "Spencer", to differentiate them. This suggestion was accepted, with the comment that the American Churchill would have done the same, had he any middle names.

Read more about this topic:  Winston Churchill (novelist)

Famous quotes containing the words confusion, british and/or statesman:

    “The confusion is not my invention. We cannot listen to a conversation for five minutes without being aware of the confusion. It is all around us and our only chance now is to let it in. The only chance of renovation is to open our eyes and see the mess. It is not a mess you can make sense of.”
    —Samuel Beckett (1906–1989)

    “Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
    —Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)

    “A statesman is an easy man,
    He tells his lies by rote;
    A journalist makes up his lies
    And takes you by the throat;
    So stay at home and drink your beer
    And let the neighbours vote.”
    —William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)