Peter Dunsmore Howard (20 December 1908 – 25 February 1965) was a British

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

, captain of the

England national rugby union team The England national rugby union team represents the Rugby Football Union (RFU) in international rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France national rugby union team, France, Ireland national rugby union team, ...

and leader of Moral Re-Armament from 1961 to 1965. He also won a World Championship bobsleigh medal in 1939.

Biography

Born in

Maidenhead Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England. It lies on the southwestern bank of the River Thames, which at this point forms the border with Buckinghamshire. In the 2021 Census, ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, Howard was educated at

Mill Hill School Mill Hill School is a 13–18 co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private, Day school, day and boarding school in Mill Hill, London, England that was established in 1807. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' ...

. A graduate of the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

and journalist, Howard captained the

while he worked with

Oswald Mosley Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980), was a British aristocrat and politician who rose to fame during the 1920s and 1930s when he, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, turned to fascism. ...

for the New Party. Howard represented

Oxford University RFC The Oxford University Rugby Football Club (Oxford University RFC or OURFC) is the rugby union club of the University of Oxford. The club contests The Varsity Match every year against Cambridge University at Twickenham. History Men's team ...

The Varsity Match The Varsity Match is an annual rugby union fixture played between the universities of Oxford and Cambridge in England. The event began in 1872 with the first men's match, with interruptions only for the two World Wars and the COVID-19 pandemic ...

in 1929 and 1930 and made his England debut against Wales in January 1930 while he was still at Oxford. He played eight times for England and in all four matches in the Five Nations Championship in both 1930 and 1931. He captained England against Ireland at Twickenham in 1931, Ireland winning 6–5.Griffiths, page 1:25 In 1939, he won the

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

in the four-man event at the

FIBT World Championships The IBSF World Championships (known as the FIBT World Championships until 2015), part of the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, have taken place on an annual basis since FIBT World Championships 1930, 1930. Starting with 2002, no Wo ...

St. Moritz St. Moritz ( , , ; ; ; ; ) is a high Alpine resort town in the Engadine in Switzerland, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is Upper Engadine's major town and a municipality in the administrative region of Maloja in the Swiss ...

. After a flirtation with Mosley's

Blackshirts The Voluntary Militia for National Security (, MVSN), commonly called the Blackshirts (, CCNN, singular: ) or (singular: ), was originally the paramilitary wing of the National Fascist Party, known as the Squadrismo, and after 1923 an all-vo ...

, Howard joined the Conservative Party and became a political correspondent and investigative reporter for

Lord Beaverbrook William Maxwell Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook (25 May 1879 – 9 June 1964), was a Canadian-British newspaper publisher and backstage politician who was an influential figure in British media and politics of the first half of the 20th century ...

's ''

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

''. In 1940, with the Labour Party's future leader

Michael Foot Michael Mackintosh Foot (23 July 19133 March 2010) was a British politician who was Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposition from 1980 to 1983. Foot beg ...

and the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

's Frank Owen, Howard wrote the political polemic, ''

Guilty Men ''Guilty Men'' is a British polemical book written under the pseudonym "Cato" that was published in July 1940, after the failure of British forces to prevent the defeat and occupation of Norway and France by Nazi Germany. It attacked fifteen publ ...

'', against Britain's

appeasement Appeasement, in an International relations, international context, is a diplomacy, diplomatic negotiation policy of making political, material, or territorial concessions to an aggressive power (international relations), power with intention t ...

and the politicians responsible for it. Meanwhile, Howard had been assigned by Lord Beaverbrook to investigate the 1930s English evangelical movement of the American religious leader Frank Buchman, the

Oxford Group The Oxford Group was a Christian organization founded by American Lutheran minister Frank Buchman in 1921, originally under the name First Century Christian Fellowship. Buchman believed that fear and selfishness were the root of all problems. ...

, which was later renamed Moral Re-Armament. Howard interviewed Buchman and eventually left the ''Daily Express'' and joined the inner circle of Moral Re-Armament. In 1941, he published the book ''Innocent Men'' in which he took a different view of the politicians lambasted in ''Guilty Men'' only a year earlier. He still sharply questioned the relationship between press and government in wartime Britain but also expressed his views about the role that Moral Re-Armament could play. Moral Re-Armament made the fight against

communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

a high priority during and after

World War II 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 ...

and considered it a threat to peace and

religious freedom Freedom of religion or religious liberty, also known as freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice ...

. Howard wrote 17 plays, which were mostly perceived as both extremely didactic and

anticommunist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism, communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global ...

on the themes of co-operation and dialogue in industrial relations, politics, and personal life. After Buchman died in 1961, Howard was his chosen successor as leader of the worldwide Moral Re-Armament movement. Howard travelled extensively until he died of viral pneumonia in

Lima, Peru Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

, in February 1965. Howard married 1932 Wimbledon ladies doubles champion Doris Metaxa, and they had three children: Anne Marie, Anthony John and ''

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 ...

'' journalist Philip Howard. Doë (Doris) Metaxa Howard was born in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

on 12 June 1911, but she was raised in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

and represented

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

at Wimbledon; she died on 7 September 2007, aged 96.

Works

* ''Innocent Men'', (1941) * ''Fighters Ever'', (1942) * ''Ideas Have Legs'', (1945) * ''That Man Frank Buchman'', (1946) * ''Men on Trial'', (1946) * ''The World Rebuilt'', (1951) * ''The Real News'', (1953) * ''The Dictators' Slippers'', (1953) * ''The Boss'', (1953) * ''Remaking Men'', (1954) * ''We Are Tomorrow'', (1954) * ''Effective Statesmanship'', (1955) * ''The Vanishing Island'', (1955) * ''Rumpelsnits'', (1956) * ''America Needs An Ideology'', (1957) * ''The Man Who Would Not Die'', (1957) * ''Miracle in the Sun'', (1959) * ''Pickle Hill'', (1959) * ''The Hurricane'', (1960) * ''The Ladder'', (1960) * ''Frank Buchman's Secret'', (1961) * ''Music at Midnight'', (1962) * ''Space Is So Startling'', (1962) * ''Britain and the Beast'', (1963) * ''Through The Garden Wall'', (1963) * ''The Diplomats'', (1963) * ''Design For Dedication'', (1964) * ''Beaverbrook: A Study of Max The Unknown'', (1964) * ''Mr Brown Comes Down The Hill'', (1964) * ''Give A Dog A Bone'', (1964) * ''Happy Death-Day'', (1965) * ''Above The Smoke And Stir'', (1975) Source:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Peter 1908 births 1965 deaths British male bobsledders British male journalists English evangelists England international rugby union players English rugby union players Oxford University RFC players People educated at Mill Hill School People from Maidenhead Rugby union players from Maidenhead 20th-century English sportsmen