A. E. Dyson
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Anthony Edward Dyson, aka Tony Dyson (28 November 1928 – 30 July 2002) was a British literary critic, university lecturer, educational activist and gay rights campaigner.


Biography

Educated at Pembroke College, Cambridge, his academic career began in 1955 when he was appointed Assistant Lecturer in English Literature at the University of North Wales, Bangor. From there, he went to the
University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...
where he was later appointed Reader. He took early retirement in the 1980s. Dyson single-handedly took the initiative in forming the Homosexual Law Reform Society (HLRS) in May 1958. He had sent hundreds of letters to
Members of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
and celebrities asking for their support, successfully bringing together an impressive collection of distinguished names, including
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, Lord Attlee, A. J. Ayer, Isaiah Berlin,
Trevor Huddleston Ernest Urban Trevor Huddleston (15 June 191320 April 1998) was an English Anglican bishop. He was the Bishop of Stepney in London before becoming the second Archbishop of the Church of the Province of the Indian Ocean. He was best known for ...
, Julian Huxley, C. Day-Lewis,
J. B. Priestley John Boynton Priestley (; 13 September 1894 – 14 August 1984) was an English novelist, playwright, screenwriter, broadcaster and social commentator. His Yorkshire background is reflected in much of his fiction, notably in ''The Good Compa ...
,
Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ...
,
Donald Soper Donald Oliver Soper, Baron Soper (31 January 1903 – 22 December 1998) was a British Methodist minister, socialist and pacifist. He served as President of the Methodist Conference in 1953–54. After May 1965 he was a peer in the House of Lor ...
,
A. J. P. Taylor Alan John Percivale Taylor (25 March 1906 – 7 September 1990) was a British historian who specialised in 19th- and 20th-century European diplomacy. Both a journalist and a broadcaster, he became well known to millions through his televis ...
,
Angus Wilson Sir Angus Frank Johnstone-Wilson, CBE (11 August 191331 May 1991) was an English novelist and short story writer. He was one of England's first openly gay authors. He was awarded the 1958 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for '' The Middle Age of ...
and Barbara Wootton. The campaign began with a letter, signed by all these figures, published in ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'' on 7 March 1958, calling for the implementation of the Wolfenden Committee's recommendations that the law in relation to male homosexual relations be liberalised. Dyson had written on the University of North Wales headed paper making a bold statement of exactly who and where he was, which was a risky move. "It is difficult to comprehend the danger of living as a homosexual before the law was reformed in 1967, with the ever-present threat of criminal proceeding or blackmail. Dyson's careful and courageous handing of the campaign during these years was instrumental in ensuring that it did not arouse animosity and become counter-productive." The same group of people simultaneously founded the Albany Trust, the charitable arm of the HLRS, which became the pioneer national counselling agency for gay men and lesbians. Dyson was Vice-Chairman of the HLRS and a Trustee of the Albany Trust. During this time he met Cliff Tucker (18 December 1912 – 21 May 1993), a senior executive at British Petroleum, a Labour Party councillor in inner London and a
magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...
. They lived together for 35 years until Tucker's death in 1993. Dyson followed Tucker's final wishes and bequeathed the proceeds of their Hampstead home to Tucker's alma mater, the
University of Wales, Lampeter University of Wales, Lampeter ( cy, Prifysgol Cymru, Llanbedr Pont Steffan) was a university in Lampeter, Wales. Founded in 1822, and incorporated by royal charter in 1828, it was the oldest degree awarding institution in Wales, with limited ...
. As a result, there is now a
scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholars ...
and lecture theatre which bear Tucker's name, and a Fellowship in Poetry named for Dyson. In 1959 Dyson, together with Brian Cox, founded the literary journal ''Critical Quarterly'', described in ''New Pelican Guide to English Literature'' as "probably the most influential English literary-critical journal in the academic field over the post-war decades". Together they wrote ''Modern Poetry: Studies in Practical Criticism'' (1963) which became a standard text book for many years. As a literary critic, Dyson has published works on
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
,
Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...
,
Samuel Taylor Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge (; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake ...
and
Sylvia Plath Sylvia Plath (; October 27, 1932 – February 11, 1963) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. She is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for two of her published collections, '' Th ...
, among others. In 1969 Dyson and Cox published the first of what became a series of five
Black Papers The Black Papers were a series of articles on British education, published from 1969 to 1977 in the Critical Quarterly; their name intended as a contrast to government White Papers. According to the '' Critical Quarterly'' website the Black Paper ...
criticising "progressive" educational methods and the Labour government's policy of replacing
grammar schools A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school, ...
with
comprehensive schools A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is re ...
. This and subsequent Black Papers attracted considerable support, especially on the right of the political spectrum. However, they failed to stop the comprehensive schools movement. Tony Dyson died in London in July 2002 after suffering from leukemia for several years. Th
Papers
of Tony Dyson and of his partner, Cliff Tucker, are housed at the University of Manchester John Rylands Library Special Collections. A further box of his papers is held at LSE Archives.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dyson, Anthony Edward 1928 births 2002 deaths Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Academics of the University of East Anglia British activists British LGBT rights activists British LGBT writers 20th-century LGBT people