Nicholas Lamert Luard (26 June 1937 Hampstead, London – 25 May 2004 Kensington, London) was a writer and politician.

Background

Luard was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

and

Magdalene College, Cambridge Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...

, where he read English and was taught by

F. R. Leavis Frank Raymond "F. R." Leavis ( ; 14 July 1895 – 14 April 1978) was an English literary critic of the early-to-mid-twentieth century. He taught for much of his career at Downing College, Cambridge, and later at the University of York. Leav ...

. He met

Peter Cook Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937 – 9 January 1995) was an English comedian, actor, satirist, playwright and screenwriter. He was the leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, and he was associated with the anti-establishmen ...

through

Footlights The Cambridge Footlights, commonly referred to simply as Footlights, is a student sketch comedy troupe located in Cambridge, England. Footlights was founded in 1883, and is one of Britain's oldest student sketch comedy troupes. The comedy so ...

. A very short academic career was replaced by club management on the strength of a legacy. He co-founded

The Establishment In sociology and in political science, the term the establishment describes the dominant social group, the elite who control a polity, an organization, or an institution. In the Praxis (process), praxis of wealth and Power (social and politica ...

club in the early 1960s with Peter Cook. He then went into writing. He was one of the Lords Gnome of ''

Private Eye ''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satirical and current affairs (news format), current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely recognised ...

''. With

Chris Brasher Christopher William Brasher CBE (21 August 1928 – 28 February 2003) was a British track and field athlete, Olympic champion, sports journalist and co-founder of the London Marathon. Early life and education Born in Georgetown, British Gui ...

, Nigel Hawkins and Denis Mollison, he founded the

John Muir Trust The John Muir Trust (JMT) is a Scottish charity, established in 1983 to conserve wild land and wild places for the benefit of all. The Trust runs an environmental award scheme, manages several estates, mainly in the Highlands and Islands of Scot ...

in 1983. Hawkins served as chairman from 1991 to 1997. Luard stood as a candidate for the

Referendum Party The Referendum Party was a Eurosceptic, single-issue party, single-issue political party that was active in the United Kingdom from 1994 to 1997. The party's sole objective was for a referendum to be held on the nature of the UK's membership ...

in the 1997 general election, against

Michael Portillo Michael Denzil Xavier Portillo ( ; born 26 May 1953) is a British journalist, broadcaster, and former Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician. His broadcast series include railway documentaries such as ''Great British Railway Jou ...

in Enfield Southgate. Luard married Elisabeth Longmore, the food writer, in 1962.

Bibliography

*''Refer to Drawer: Being a Penetrating Survey of a Shameful National Practice - Hustling.'' With Dominick Elwes; illus.

John Glashan John Glashan (born John McGlashan, 24 December 1927 – 15 June 1999Martin Plimmer,, ''The Independent'', 22 July 1999. Accessed 20 August 2016.) was a Scottish cartoonist, illustrator and playwright. He was the creator of the "Genius" cartoons. ...

. London: Arthur Barker, 1964. *''The Warm and Golden War.'' London: Secker & Warburg, 1967 (). New York: Pantheon, 1967. *''Travelling Horseman.'' London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1975. () *''The Robespierre Serial.'' London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1975 (). New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1975 () *''The Orion Line.'' London: Secker & Warburg, 1976 () *''Blood Spoor.'' Under the pen name of James McVean, London: Raven Books, 1977 () *''The Dirty Area.'' London: Hamish Hamilton, 1979 () *''The Last Wilderness: A Journey Across the Great Kalahari Desert.'' New York: Simon & Schuster, 1981 (). London: Elm Tree, 1981 () *''Andalucia: A Portrait of Southern Spain.'' London: Century, 1984 () *''The Wildlife Parks of Africa.'' London: Michael Joseph, 1985 *''Landscape in Spain.'' Photographs by Michael Bussele. Boston: Little, Brown, 1988 (). London: Pavilion, 1988 () *''Gondar.'' London: Century, 1988 () *''Kala.'' London: Century, 1990 () *''Himalaya.'' London: Century, 1992 () *''Sanctuary.'' London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1994 () *''Silverback.'' London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1996 () *''The Field of the Star: Pilgrim's Journey to Santiago De Compostela.'' London: Michael Joseph, 1998 ()

References

External links

''Guardian'' obituary
by Patrick Marnham
Fantastic Fiction
1937 births 2004 deaths Private Eye contributors Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge People educated at Winchester College Referendum Party politicians {{UK-politician-stub