Stephen Meredith Potter (1 February 1900 – 2 December 1969) was a British writer best known for his parodies of self-help books, and their film and television derivatives. After leaving school in the last months of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he was commissioned as a junior officer in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

, but by the time he had completed his training the war was over and he was demobilised. He then studied English at

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, and after some false starts he spent his early working life as an academic, lecturing in English literature at

Birkbeck College Birkbeck, University of London (formally Birkbeck College, University of London), is a public research university located in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. Established in 1823 as the London Mechanics' ...

, part of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, during which time he published several works on

Samuel Taylor Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge ( ; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets with his friend William Wordsworth ...

. Finding his income inadequate to support himself and his family, he left the university and took up a post producing and writing for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. He stayed with the BBC until after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, when he became a freelance writer, and remained one for the rest of his life. His series of humorous books on how to secure an unfair advantage began in 1947 with ''

Gamesmanship Gamesmanship is the use of dubious (although not technically illegal) methods to win or gain a serious advantage in a game or sport. It has been described as "Pushing the rules to the limit without getting caught, using whatever dubious methods p ...

'', purporting to show how poor players can beat better ones by subtle psychological ploys. This sold prodigiously and led to a series of sequels covering other aspects of life. The books were adapted for the cinema in the 1960s and for television in the 1970s.

Biography

Early years

Potter was born in

Battersea Battersea is a large district in southwest London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and also extends along the south bank of the Thames Tideway. It includes the Battersea Park. Hist ...

, London, the only son of Frank Collard Potter (1858–1939), a chartered accountant, and his wife Elizabeth Mary Jubilee ''née'' Reynolds (1863–1950).Grenfell, Joyce
"Potter, Stephen Meredith (1900–1969)’"
rev. Clare L. Taylor, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edition, October 2008, accessed 22 May 2010 (requires subscription) He attended

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

from age 13 to 18, during the

. As he reached school-leaving age he wrote in his diary, "If this war doesn't end soon I shall have to join the beastly army and lay down my blooming life for my blinking country." He volunteered for the army, was trained as an officer and "passed out" (graduated) as top of his company. He was commissioned into the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarchy; due to this, it often ...

as a second lieutenant just as the war was ending, and did not see active service.Davis, Russell, "The master-shipwright", review of biography of Potter by Alan Jenkins, ''

Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

'', 17 October 1980, p. 1185 Potter was demobilised in 1919, and spent a few months in his father's office learning book-keeping, before going to

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...

, to study English. His family paid for his university education, a fact that put him in the shadow of his elder sister Muriel (later a form mistress at

St Paul's Girls' School St Paul's Girls' School is a private day school for girls, aged 11 to 18, located in Brook Green, Hammersmith, in west London, England. The school is included in The Schools Index as one of the world's 150 best private schools and among top ...

, then headmistress of

South Hampstead High School South Hampstead High School is a private day school in Hampstead, north-west London, England, which was founded by the Girls' Day School Trust (GDST). It is for girls aged 4–18 with selective entry at ages 4+, 7+, 11+ and 16+ (Sixth Form). ...

), who had won a scholarship to

St Hugh's College, Oxford St Hugh's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It is located on a site on St Margaret's Road, to the north of the city centre. It was founded in 1886 by Elizabeth Wordsworth as a ...

, and had taken a first-class degree. Potter achieved only a second-class degree in English language and literature. On the strength of this he was offered the post of talks producer at the

, but turned it down as it was based in the provincial city of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, where he had no wish to reside. Potter instead tried to earn a living as an elocution teacher in London, advertising "Cockney accents cured", but attracted only one pupil. He then tried his luck as a tutor and schoolmaster before becoming private secretary to a well-known playwright,

Henry Arthur Jones Henry Arthur Jones (20 September 1851 – 7 January 1929) was an English dramatist, who was first noted for his melodrama '' The Silver King'' (1882), and went on to write prolifically, often appearing to mirror Ibsen from the opposite (conserva ...

Lecturer in English literature

In 1926 Potter began teaching English literature at

. On 7 July 1927 he married Marian Anderson Attenborough (1900–1981), a painter professionally known as

Mary Potter Mary Potter may refer to: * Mary Potter (nun) Mary Potter, LCM (22 November 1847 – 9 April 1913) was an Catholic Church in England and Wales, English Catholic religious sister known for founding the Little Company of Mary in 1877. Her c ...

. There were two sons of the marriage Andrew (1928–2008) and Julian (1931–2013). The family at first lived in

Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district in West London, split between the London Borough of Hounslow, London Boroughs of Hounslow and London Borough of Ealing, Ealing. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist Wi ...

, London, before moving to a flat in

Harley Street Harley Street is a street in Marylebone, Central London, named after Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer."Potter, Marian Anderson (Mary)(1900–1981)"
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, September 2004; online edition, May 2009, accessed 22 May 2010 (requires subscription) Potter's first book, ''The Young Man'' (1929), was an autobiographical novel, which was well-reviewed. ''

The Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' wrote, "a brilliant performance ... a distinguished contribution to intellectual fiction." In 1930 he wrote ''D. H. Lawrence: A First Study'', the first book-length work on

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

, which appeared in print within a few days of the death of its subject; unfortunate timing, because it seemed like an inadequate memorial rather than what it was intended to be, a critical reappraisal. It also suffered from a regrettable misprint, rendering the heading "Sea and Sardinia", as "Sex and Sardinia". This was soon amplified by rumour into "Sex and Sardines", none of which helped Potter's reputation as a serious writer. Potter's most comprehensive critic was the friend from whom he had inherited the Cape commission, G.B. Edwards, in Middleton Murry's ''Adelphi''. After this he concentrated in his next four works on

Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge ( ; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets with his friend William Wordsworth ...

. He edited the

Nonesuch Press Nonesuch Press was a private press founded in 1922 in London by Francis Meynell, his second wife Vera Mendel, and their mutual friend David Garnett,Miranda Knorr"The Nonesuch Press: A Product of Determination" An Exhibit of Rare Books at the Ok ...

''Coleridge'' (1933), praised in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' as "the best anthology that has ever shown Coleridge as poet, philosopher and critic. This was followed by an edition of

Sara Coleridge Sara Coleridge (23 December 1802 – 3 May 1852) was an English author and translator. She was the third child and only daughter of the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge and his wife Sara Fricker. Her first works were translations from Latin and med ...

's letters to Thomas Poole, ''Minnow among Tritons'' (1934), which Potter edited from the original manuscripts in the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

. In 1941 he wrote a play, ''Married to a Genius'', based on the Coleridge marriage. In 1935 he published his most important contribution to the subject, ''Coleridge and S.T.C.'', a discussion of the duality in the poet's nature, "not merely the earlier and the later, but the true and the false, and the exciting and the nauseating," as

John Middleton Murry John Middleton Murry (6 August 1889 – 12 March 1957) was an English writer. He was a prolific author, producing more than 60 books and thousands of essays and reviews on literature, social issues, politics, and religion during his lifetime. ...

put it in a review in ''

The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

''. Reviews were good, but with reservations that Potter oversimplified the dichotomy in Coleridge's nature (''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'') or else did not explore the underlying reasons for it (''TLS''). In 1937 Potter published ''The Muse in Chains: a Study in Education'', a humorous satire on the academic teaching of English literature. G. M. Young wrote of it: "if I were suddenly commissioned by some Golden Dustman to organize a new University, I think I should send for Mr. Potter and offer him the Chair of English literature forthwith." Other reviewers thought Potter's suggestions more entertaining than practical. Potter's humorous insights into academic life were widely praised. He wrote of

George Saintsbury George Edward Bateman Saintsbury, FBA (23 October 1845 – 28 January 1933), was an English critic, literary historian, editor, teacher, and wine connoisseur. He is regarded as a highly influential critic of the late 19th and early 20th cent ...

: "It is recorded that for eighteen years he started the day by reading a French novel (in preparation for his history of them) – an act so unnatural to man as almost in itself to amount to genius."

BBC writer and producer

Potter first wrote for

radio in 1936. Finding that his academic career, although promising, was insufficiently well paid to support his family, he resigned from Birkbeck in 1937 and the following year joined the BBC as a writer-producer in its features department, originally concentrating on literary features and documentaries. In the same year he joined the

Savile Club The Savile Club is a traditional gentlemen's club in London that was founded in 1868. Located in fashionable and historically significant Mayfair, its membership, past and present, includes many prominent names. Changing premises Initially cal ...

, known for its artistic and especially literary members, who have included

Hardy Hardy may refer to: People * Hardy (surname) * Hardy (given name) * Hardy (singer), American singer-songwriter Places Antarctica * Mount Hardy, Enderby Land * Hardy Cove, Greenwich Island * Hardy Rocks, Biscoe Islands Australia * Hardy, ...

Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

, and

Yeats William Butler Yeats (, 13 June 186528 January 1939), popularly known as W. B. Yeats, was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer, and literary critic who was one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the ...

. He was a leading player of the club's idiosyncratic version of

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, billiards table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets: one at each corner and ...

, and some of his later "gamesmanship" ploys are thought to have originated in the Savile's games room. At the outbreak of the Second World War Potter was sent by the BBC to work in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. Later in the war years he and his wife moved south, living in a farmhouse in

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

where she found more scope to pursue her career as a painter. In 1943 Potter collaborated with

Joyce Grenfell Joyce Irene Grenfell (''née'' Phipps; 10 February 1910 – 30 November 1979) was an English diseuse, singer, actress and writer. She was known for the songs and monologues she wrote and performed, at first in revues and later in her solo show ...

on a gently satirical comedy feature "How to Talk to Children". It was well received and they made twenty-eight more "How to ..." programmes, including "How to Woo" and "How to Give a Party". In 1946 "How to Listen" was the first broadcast heard on the newly created

Third Programme The BBC Third Programme was a national radio station produced and broadcast from 1946 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 3. It first went on the air on 29 September 1946 and became one of the leading cultural and intellectual forces ...

. At the end of the war, Potter took on a number of concurrent literary tasks. These included drama critic for the ''

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

'' and book reviewer for the ''

News Chronicle The ''News Chronicle'' was a British daily newspaper. Formed by the merger of '' The Daily News'' and the '' Daily Chronicle'' in 1930, it ceased publication on 17 October 1960,''Liberal Democrat News'' 15 October 2010, accessed 15 October 2010 b ...

''.

''Gamesmanship'' and freelance writing

A ten-day power-cut at the beginning of 1947 prevented any broadcasting and gave Potter the opportunity to dash off a book. To the despair of his publisher he was a far from methodical author: every Potter manuscript was "a mass of dirty bits of paper, vilely typed, corrected in illegible biro, episodic and half-revised." This book, ''The Theory and Practice of Gamesmanship: Or the Art of Winning Games Without Actually Cheating'', illustrated by Frank Wilson, was published in 1947, and sold prodigiously.Lowrey, Burling
"The Timelessness of Stephen Potter's Gamesmanship"
''Virginia Quarterly Review'', Autumn 1993, pp.718–26 It was the first of his series of books purporting to teach ploys for manipulating one's associates, making them feel inferior and thus gaining the status of being one-up on them. From this book, the term "Gamesmanship" entered the English language. Potter said that he was introduced to the technique by

C. E. M. Joad Cyril Edwin Mitchinson Joad (12 August 1891 – 9 April 1953) was an English philosopher, author, teacher and broadcasting personality. He appeared on ''The Brains Trust'', a BBC Radio wartime discussion programme. He popularised philosophy and ...

during a game of tennis in which Joad and Potter were struggling against two fit young students. Joad politely requested the students to state clearly whether a ball had landed in or out (when in truth it was so obviously out that they had not thought it necessary to say so). This nonplussed the students, who wondered if their sportsmanship was in question; they became so edgy that they lost the match."Potter, Stephen"
''Contemporary Authors Online'', Gale, 2003, accessed 22 May 2010 (requires subscription) With the success of ''Gamesmanship'', Potter left the BBC in 1949, ended his existing journalistic commitments, and briefly became editor of a weekly, ''

Leader Magazine ''Leader Magazine'' was a weekly pictorial magazine published in the United Kingdom. The magazine was first owned by Pearson and then by Odhams. Later it became part of Hulton Press. The headquarters of the magazine was in London. The last issue o ...

''. The magazine closed in 1950, and thereafter he was a freelance writer for the rest of his life. Potter followed up the success of Gamesmanship, extending the basic idea to many other aspects of life, in ''Some Notes on Lifemanship'' (1950), which was another big seller. In "Lifemanship" Potter extended the principles of gamesmanship to courtship ("Woomanship"), literature ("Writermanship") and pastimes ("Conversationship"). Thus for example the reader is enjoined, "never forget the uses of Lowbrowmanship in conversation ... LOWBROWMAN: Oh, I don't know, I rather like a good bit of old-fashioned vulgarity. And I'm awfully sorry but I like leg shows. If the Lowbrowman happens to be a Professor of Aesthetics ... his remark is all the more irritating". A related gambit for the journalist was ' ''Daily Mirrorship'' ... an unaffected love of tremendously ordinary and homely things like

Danny Kaye Danny Kaye (born David Daniel Kaminsky; ; January 18, 1911 – March 3, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, singer, and dancer. His performances featured physical comedy, idiosyncratic pantomimes, and rapid-fire novelty songs. Kaye starred ...

, mild and bitter, the ''Daily Mirror'', the Bertram Mills circus and

Rita Hayworth Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino; October 17, 1918May 14, 1987) was an American actress, dancer, and Pin-up model, pin-up girl. She achieved fame in the 1940s as one of the top stars of the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of ...

". Potter mentions in passing how "in the last of my Bude lectures I spoke of Gamesmanship and Shakespeare, where most of my remarks referred to Footnote Play". His notes on Donmanship refer to the "art of Criticising without Actually Listening". In his notes on Woomanship, Potter expresses surprise that "twelve times as many workers volunteered to send in reports on Woomanship as on any other subject". In mixed gamesmanship, for a man "a good working knowledge of the Chivalry Gambit is essential"; a woman's counter to "the least signs of trying the 'I have long adored you from afar' move", is to "treat it immediately as a formal proposal of marriage ''which you shyly accept''. This is one of the most devastating, the most match-winning, counters in the whole realm of gamesmanship". In 1951 Potter and his wife moved to

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

, to the Red House in

Aldeburgh Aldeburgh ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk District, East Suffolk district, in the English county, county of Suffolk, England, north of the River Alde. Its estimated population was 2,276 in 2019. It was home to the comp ...

. The most famous local residents were

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, o ...

and

Peter Pears Sir Peter Neville Luard Pears ( ; 22 June 19103 April 1986) was an English tenor. His career was closely associated with the composer Benjamin Britten, his personal and professional partner for nearly forty years. Pears' musical career started ...

, with whom the Potters quickly became friendly. They got involved with the running of Britten's

Aldeburgh Festival The Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts is an English arts festival devoted mainly to classical music. It takes place each June in the town of Aldeburgh, Suffolk and is centred on Snape Maltings Concert Hall. History of the Aldeburgh Festi ...

, and "every summer Britten, Peter Pears, and the Potters formed the nucleus of countless tennis parties on the grass court at the Red House." In 1954, Potter asked his wife for a divorce. She consented, and he moved away from Aldeburgh. Finding the Red House too large and expensive for one person, Mary Potter agreed to exchange houses with Britten and Pears, who moved into the Red House, with which they were associated for the rest of their lives and beyond. In 1955, after nearly 30 years of marriage, the Potters' divorce was finalised, and he remarried, to

Heather Jenner Heather Jenner (real name Heather Lyon; 1914 – 1991) was an English matchmaker, who ran a marriage bureau, called "The Marriage Bureau", in Bond Street, Mayfair, London. Biography The daughter of Cyril Arthur Lyon, an Army general, she marri ...

, the founder of The Marriage Bureau. Their only child, Luke, was born the following year. A second successor to ''Gamesmanship'' was published as ''

One-Upmanship Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, individ ...

'' (1952). Potter had become well enough known overseas to be invited to give a literary lecture tour of America. He described his experiences in ''Potter on America'' (1956), which received a long and complimentary review in ''The Times Literary Supplement'': "Mr. Potter's private army of Lifemen will need no recommendation to this latest frolic .... It is a pleasure to discover or rediscover the United States in this company, for the author is the most literate of humorists." A third sequel to ''Gamesmanship'', was published in 1958 under the title of ''Supermanship''. Its publisher,

Rupert Hart-Davis Sir Rupert Charles Hart-Davis (28 August 1907 – 8 December 1999) was an English publisher and editor. He founded the publishing company Rupert Hart-Davis Ltd. As a biographer, he is remembered for his ''Hugh Walpole'' (1952), as an editor, ...

, privately wrote of the book, "''Gamesmanship'' made me laugh a lot, and its two successors were just good enough (all three still sell prodigiously), but the world has moved (deathwards, you may say) in the last ten years, and Potter hasn't budged an inch. In truth the joke is played out, but he won't face the fact. This manuscript consists of a bunch of marginal articles, written during the past six years and slung together with the minimum of care."Hart-Davis, Volume 3, Letter of 13 April 1958 Some critics agreed. ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'' commented, "his methods and the point of view behind them don't seem as funny or as sharp as they once did, possibly because they are no longer surprising, or possibly because he is getting a little tired of his own joke." But

Edmund Wilson Edmund Wilson Jr. (May 8, 1895 – June 12, 1972) was an American writer, literary critic, and journalist. He is widely regarded as one of the most important literary critics of the 20th century. Wilson began his career as a journalist, writing ...

remained a fan of Potter, praising "the brevity and compactness of the presentation. As in any practical manual, the principles are stated and concisely illustrated. Nothing goes on too long."

Later years

By the late 1950s the concept and the suffix "-manship" had entered the English language. The foreign policy of the American secretary of state

John Foster Dulles John Foster Dulles (February 25, 1888 – May 24, 1959) was an American politician, lawyer, and diplomat who served as United States secretary of state under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 until his resignation in 1959. A member of the ...

was universally known as "

brinkmanship Brinkmanship is the practice of trying to achieve an advantageous outcome by pushing dangerous events to the brink of active conflict. The maneuver of pushing a situation with the opponent to the brink succeeds by forcing the opponent to back dow ...

",''The Times'' obituary notice, 3 December 1969, p. 13 and in England

Prince Philip Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 19219 April 2021), was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he was the consort of the British monarch from h ...

borrowed from Potter in 1957, accusing accountants of "taxmanship – the art of scoring off the Inland Revenue without actually cheating". According to Joyce Grenfell, Potter had become bored with the joke by this time, "but for the rest of his life he found it difficult to speak or write naturally, so accustomed had he grown to the jocose gambits and ploys of his own invention." Potter himself was aware of the pigeonhole in which he had put himself. He described himself in ''The Times'' in 1967 as "one whose sole contribution to world thought has been the naming and description of the form of behaviour now known as gamesmanship". Another friend said of him, "This kind of fame was not what he had hoped for. He wanted to be a great serious writer. Yet that was totally beyond him." Potter's last works went in new directions. In 1959 he wrote a corporate history of

H.J. Heinz Henry John Heinz (October 11, 1844 – May 14, 1919) was an American entrepreneur who co-founded the H. J. Heinz Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was involved in the passage of the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act. Many of his descendants ...

under the title ''The Magic Number'', and his autobiography of his first 20 years, ''Steps to Immaturity''. His publisher was doubtful about the latter, but it was well received. ''The Times Literary Supplement'', called it "this sympathetic, beguiling book" and looked forward to a sequel, and other papers from ''

The Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

'' to ''The New Statesman'' praised it in their reviews. In 1965 when his youngest son was about 9 years old, Potter wrote a children's book, ''Squawky'', illustrated by

George Him George Him (4 August 1900 – 4 April 1982) was a Polish-born British designer responsible for a number of notable posters, book illustrations and advertising campaigns for a wide range of clients. Biography Him was born Jerzy Himmelfarb in 190 ...

, with whom he had earlier created the mythical County of Schweppshire as part of an advertising campaign for a soft-drink manufacturer. At the time of his death he was making notes on word origins from the natural world; they were posthumously edited and published in 1973 as ''Pedigree: Essays on the Etymology of Words from Nature''. Potter died of pneumonia in London at the age of 69.

Adaptations and commemorations

The

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

film '' School for Scoundrels'' recapitulates many of the "one-up" ideas, and extends them to "Woo-manship", meaning the art of manipulative seduction of women. The script was adapted by

Peter Ustinov Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov (16 April 192128 March 2004) was a British actor, director and writer. An internationally known raconteur, he was a fixture on television talk shows and lecture circuits for much of his career. Ustinov received #Awa ...

from Potter's books. The film starred

Ian Carmichael Ian Gillett Carmichael, (18 June 1920 – 5 February 2010) was an English actor who Ian Carmichael on stage, screen and radio, worked prolifically on stage, screen and radio in a career that spanned seventy years. Born in Kingston upon ...

as the innocent in need of Professor Potter's teaching,

Alastair Sim Alastair George Bell Sim (9 October 1900 – 19 August 1976) was a Scottish actor. He began his theatrical career at the age of thirty and quickly became established as a popular West End performer, remaining so until his death in 1976. S ...

as Potter,

Terry-Thomas Terry-Thomas (born Thomas Terry Hoar Stevens; 10 July 1911 – 8 January 1990) was an English character actor and comedian who became internationally known through his films during the 1950s and 1960s. He often portrayed disreputable members ...

Dennis Price Dennistoun John Franklyn Rose Price (23 June 1915 – 6 October 1973) was an English actor. He played Louis Mazzini in the Ealing Studios film ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (1949) and the omnicompetent valet Jeeves in 1960s television adaptation ...

and Peter Jones as exemplars of one-upmanship. ''One-Upmanship'' is a British television series based on Potter's work. It was written and adapted by

Barry Took Barry Took (19 June 192831 March 2002) was an English writer, television presenter and comedian. His decade-and-a-half writing partnership with Marty Feldman led to the television series '' Bootsie and Snudge'', the radio comedy ''Round the Hor ...

for the BBC for a Christmas special, initially in 1974. Starring

Richard Briers Richard David Briers (14 January 1934 – 17 February 2013) was an English actor whose five-decade career encompassed film, radio, stage and television. Briers first came to prominence as George Starling in '' Marriage Lines'' (1961–66), but ...

, Peter Jones (who also played a supporting role in ''School for Scoundrels''), and

Frederick Jaeger Manfred Frederick Jaeger (29 May 1928 – 18 June 2004) was a German-born British film, television, theatre and radio character actor. Biography Jaeger was born in Berlin, Germany; his family moved to England following Adolf Hitler's rise to p ...

, it was subsequently broadened into three series that were broadcast between 1976 and 1978. Details of the broadcasts can be found on thi
BBC comedy Web site.
Potter's diaries, acquired by the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

after his death, were a primary source for ''Stephen Potter at the BBC'' (2004) by his second son, Julian Potter, a chronicle of Potter's time in the features department of the BBC in the 1940s. ''Raffles and the Match-Fixing Syndicate'', by Adam Corres, is an extension of Potter's theories, explaining the principles of cricket gamesmanship and the psychology of "thinking the batsman out". In a 1959 article Edmund Wilson wondered why Potter, as an academic himself, did not "exploit the fertile field of one-upmanship among professors, whereupon Wilson proceeded to fill the gap". In 2007, devotees of Potter created an annual winter golf tournament based on the tactics espoused in the author's book Gamesmanship. "The Potter Cup" is held annually at Fenwick Golf Course in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. The Potter Cup is the Oldest Cold Weather Golf Tournament in Continuous Existence in Connecticut.

Wider influence

Eric Berne Eric Berne (May 10, 1910 – July 15, 1970) was a Canadian-born psychiatrist who created the theory of transactional analysis as a way of explaining human behavior. Berne's theory of transactional analysis was based on the ideas of Freud an ...

in his best-selling '' Games People Play'' readily acknowledges Potter's ''Gamemanship'' as a precursor: 'Due credit should be given to Stephen Potter for his perceptive, humorous discussions of manoeuvres, or "ploys", in everyday social situations'. Elsewhere he calls Potter 'the chief representative of the humorous exposition of ulterior transactions'. What has been termed Potter's "blend of flat and serious tone (reminiscent of a gentlemanly sports handbook) united with a sceptical judgement of the values of the English middle-class social scene" would thus seem to have fed into Berne's own "sardonically humorous ''Games People Play'' ... con-games of daily life that Dr Berne describes with desperately penetrating gallows-wit". Potter's ' ''Game Leg''..."Limpmanship", as it used to be called, or the exact use of minor injury' precedes Berne's "Wooden Leg"; Potter's 'Nice Chapmanship ... Being a Nice Chap ''in certain circumstances'' is valuable' precedes Berne's "Good Joe"; Potter's "Advicemanship", whereby 'if properly managed, the mere giving of advice is sufficient' to win, precedes Berne's "I'm Only Trying to Help You", where 'the damage is done while being helpful'. And 'Just as there are O.K.-words in conversationship', so too in

transactional analysis Transactional analysis is a psychoanalytic theory and method of therapy wherein social interactions (or "transactions") are analyzed to determine the id, ego, and superego, ego state of the communicator (whether parent-like, childlike, or adult- ...

there are "''O. K. Words'': Words rewarded by parental approval ... those approved by the Parental part of the patient's father, mother, therapist, or other parental person". Where Potter noted that "each gambit has its answer or 'counterlife, Berne would note how everyone has positive forces in them "counter to the plot of

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...

script – a counterscript"; where Potter offered 'Counter Psychiatry, which is, of course, a huge subject', Berne explored how "Psychiatry as a procedure must be distinguished from 'Psychiatry' as a game". The sociologist

Erving Goffman Erving Goffman (11 June 1922 – 19 November 1982) was a Canadian-born American sociologist, social psychologist, and writer, considered by some "the most influential American sociologist of the twentieth century". In 2007, '' The Time ...

also profited from Potter's work, in the sense that it "disclose an elaborate code of conventions which operated in everyday social intercourse, which was nevertheless tacit", and could be exploited by the sociologist: "what Potter's articles perhaps did, by their oblique but recognisable affinity with Goffman's own ideas, was to provide the kind of licence or mandate"Tom Burns, ''Erving Goffman'' (1992) p. 4 Goffman needed to find his own creative approach.

Bibliography

, some of his works are out of print, but many have new editions. In 2005, ''Lifemanship'' was re-published by Moyer Bell. * ''The Young Man.'' 1929 * ''D.H. Lawrence: A First Study.'' 1930 * ''Minnow Among Tritons.'' 1934 * (ed.): ''The Nonesuch Coleridge.''1934 * ''Coleridge and S.T.C.'' 1935 * ''The Muse in Chains.'' 1937 * ''The Theory and Practice of Gamesmanship: Or the Art of Winning Games Without Actually Cheating.'' 1947. Illustrated by Frank Wilson * ''Lifemanship: With a Summary of Recent Researches in Gamesmanship.'' 1950. Illustrated by Frank Wilson * ''One-Upmanship: Being Some Account of the Activities and Teachings of the Lifemanship Correspondence College of One-Upness and Games Lifemastery''. 1952. Illustrated by Frank Wilson * ''The Sense of Humour.'' 1954 * ''Christmas-ship; or, The Art of Giving and Receiving.'' 1956 * ''Potter on America.'' 1956 * ''Supermanship, or, How to Continue to Stay Top without Actually Falling Apart.'' 1958. Illustrated by Frank Wilson. * ''Steps to Immaturity: An Autobiography.'' 1959 * ''The Magic Number.'' 1959 * ''Anti-Woo: The Lifeman's Improved Primer for Non-Lovers.'' 1965. Illustrated by Frank Wilson * ''Squawky, the One-up Parrot.'' 1965 * ''The Complete Golf Gamesmanship.'' (Also titled ''Golfmanship''). 1968. Illustrated by Frank Wilson. * ''The Complete Upmanship: Including, Gamesmanship, Lifemanship, One-Upmanship, Supermanship''. 1970. * ''Pedigree.'' 1973. (edited by Laurens Sargeant).

Notes

References

* Chaney, Edward, ''Genius Friend: G.B. Edwards and

The Book of Ebenezer le Page ''The Book of Ebenezer Le Page'' is a novel by Guernsey born writer Gerald Basil Edwards first published in the United Kingdom by Hamish Hamilton in 1981, and in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf in the same year. It has since been published ...

'', Blue Ormer 2015 * Hart-Davis, Rupert (ed): Lyttelton/Hart-Davis Letters, Volume 3 (1958 letters), John Murray, 1981 and Vol 4 (1959 letters), John Murray, 1982 * Jenkins, Alan, ''Stephen Potter: Inventor of Gamesmanship'', Weidenfeld, London, 1980. * Potter, Julian, ''Stephen Potter at the BBC'', Orford Books, Woodbridge, 2004.

External links

* *
Detailed biography and bibliography
(Oneupmanship.co.uk)
Stephen Potter at the BBC

Feature story from Links: The Best of Golf
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Potter, Stephen English biographers Coldstream Guards officers English satirists English literary critics English non-fiction writers Alumni of Merton College, Oxford Academics of Birkbeck, University of London 1900 births 1969 deaths 20th-century English novelists 20th-century British biographers English male novelists 20th-century English male writers English male non-fiction writers British male biographers Deaths from pneumonia in England