Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: Last Rites
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE:
CITY: Wales
STATE:
COUNTRY: United Kingdom
NATIONALITY: British
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Humphries_(author) * http://www.walesonline.co.uk/authors/john-humphries/?pageNumber=23
RESEARCHER NOTES:
LC control no.:
nb2005006853
LCCN Permalink:
https://lccn.loc.gov/nb2005006853
HEADING:
Humphries, John, 1937-
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1_ |a Humphries, John, |d 1937-
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__ |a The man from the Alamo, 2004: |b t.p. (The man from the Alamo) prelim. (John Humphries, b. Newport, Wales, former ed. of The Western Mail, Cardiff, Wales) BL AL sent 20 May 2005
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__ |a BL AL recd., 6 June 2005 |b (John Charles Freeman, b. 2 Jan. 1937)
PERSONAL
Born January 2, 1937, in Newport, Wales.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer and journalist. Western Mail, Cardiff, Wales, editor, 1988-92.
WRITINGS
Columnist for the Cardiff Western Mail.
SIDELIGHTS
John Humphries is a Welsh writer and former newspaper editor. Between 1988 and 1992, he was the editor of a Welsh publication called the Western Mail. Since retiring, Humphries has continued to write a column that has appeared in the newspaper. He has also released books of fiction and nonfiction.
The Man from the Alamo
Humphries is the author of the 2005 book, The Man from the Alamo: Why the Welsh Chartist Uprising of 1839 Ended in a Massacre. In this volume, he analyzes the deadly riots mounted by the Chartist political movement in Newport, Wales in the late-nineteenth century. Twenty of the Chartist demonstrators were killed while storming the Westgate Hotel during the uprising that occurred on November 4, 1839. Humphries profiles John Rees, one of the people who was instrumental in inciting the riots. Before coming to Wales, Rees was a member of a Louisiana militia called the New Orleans Greys. He went on to fight at the Alamo. After the Chartist riots, Rees returned to the United States, settling in the West. Another key figure in the riots was Zephaniah Williams, who was sent to Tasmania as punishment for his involvement in the deadly event.
In an interview with a contributor to the Wales Online website, Humphries explained how he came to develop an interest in the book’s subject. He stated: “I visited this little museum in the former penal settlement of Port Arthur in Tasmania, and in it was a harp in a glass cabinet with a label that read ‘belonging to Zephaniah Williams, one three English [sic] Chartist leaders transported to life for their part in the Chartist uprising’. I wanted to look deeper into this, especially being Newport born and bred and knowing about The Westgate Hotel.”
Last Rites
In 2017, Humphries released his first novel, Last Rites. Its protagonist, Jack Flynt, is a journalist, who receives a disturbing call on a disconnected phone. He believes the voice on the line may have been Helen Brenton, who is now in a coma. Flynt’s investigation leads him to Brittany, where secrets from WWII are revealed.
A Kirkus Reviews critic remarked: “The story is at times barely comprehensible, and the historical threads need clearer explanation than they get.” However, a contributor to Publishers Weekly commented: “Flynt is an engaging character … and the puzzle of the Bakelite phone will keep readers guessing.” Gwyn Griffiths, reviewer on the Morning Star Online website, noted: “Humphries weaves Welsh and Breton nationalism into a rich variety of plots and a goose-chase takes the intrepid reporter to London.” Referring again to Humphries, Griffiths concluded: “He’s produced a fast-moving and gripping tale and the depth of his research informs as well as entertains.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Journal of the West, summer, 2007, James Ramon Olivares, review of The Man from the Alamo: Why the Welsh Chartist Uprising of 1839 Ended in a Massacre, p. 85.
Kirkus Reviews, December 15, 2016, review of Last Rites.
Publishers Weekly, December 5, 2016, review of Last Rites, p. 53.
ONLINE
Morning Star Online (UK), https://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/ (September 27, 2016), Gwyn Griffiths, review of Last Rites.
Wales Online, http://www.walesonline.co.uk/ (March 31, 2013), author interview; (August 17, 2017), author profile.*
Retired Editor of the Western Mail and author of five non-fiction books about aspects of Welsh history, the most recent to be published in September about Welsh involvement in the search for the source of the Nile. John has spent many years creating gardens and writes a weekly column in the Western Mail's Week End magazine.
QUOTED: "I visited this little museum in the former penal settlement of Port Arthur in Tasmania, and in it was a harp in a glass cabinet with a label that read 'belonging to Zephaniah Williams, one three English [sic] Chartist leaders transported to life for their part in the Chartist uprising'. I wanted to look deeper into this, especially being Newport born and bred and knowing about The Westgate Hotel."
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HomeNewsWales News
Man from The Alamo caused massacre of Welsh rebels
A NEW book claims to have solved a 165-year-old Welsh mystery - who fired the first shot during Newport's infamous Chartist riots that left 20 demonstrators dead.
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BYWALESONLINE
00:00, 17 AUG 2004UPDATED15:39, 31 MAR 2013
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A NEW book claims to have solved a 165-year-old Welsh mystery - who fired the first shot during Newport's infamous Chartist riots that left 20 demonstrators dead.
After three years of painstaking research, author and former journalist John Humphries believes he has the answer to the tragic events of November 4, 1839.
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And the remarkable story he has unearthed follows two Welshmen across three continents and even touches upon the siege of The Alamo.
Mr Humphries, 67, who edited The Western Mail from 1988 to 1992, first became drawn into the story during a family holiday to Australia.
He said, "I visited this little museum in the former penal settlement of Port Arthur in Tasmania, and in it was a harp in a glass cabinet with a label that read 'belonging to Zephaniah Williams, one three English [sic] Chartist leaders transported to life for their part in the Chartist uprising'.
"I wanted to look deeper into this, especially being Newport born and bred and knowing about The Westgate Hotel."
His first astonishing discovery came when he followed up the story of Williams, who was transported to Australia for life for his part in the rising.
He found that he became a respectable pillar of the community and a prominent local capitalist and mine owner.
And, amazingly, the Williams family Bible remains on the shelf of the original Williams residence in Tasmania, despite the house changing hands about a dozen times.
As a result, Mr Humphries has called for the return of this artefact, if the present owner can be persuaded to sell.
"The Bible really should be returned to Wales, because it is an important link to a period in Welsh history that, in the eyes of the world, propelled Wales into the cockpit of working class revolution," he said.
"But Tasmania also regards it as part of its cultural heritage since Williams was instrumental in developing its Mersey coalfield.
"I hope the Bible doesn't become some sort of Welsh 'Elgin Marbles', and that the present owner and Australian National Trust eventually agree it should be returned to Wales."
But the most important finding contained in The Man from the Alamo: Why the Welsh Chartist Uprising of 1839 Ended in a Massacre, is evidence pointing to Chartist leader John Rees - a man who had recently returned from the US after taking part in the first Battle of the Alamo - as the man who may have fired the first shot that precipitated the massacre by the soldiers.
After trawling through documents and contemporaneous accounts, Mr Humphries's book contends that Rees may well have tried to subvert a peaceful demonstration and trigger a revolutionary attack on the monarchy.
"He stepped forward waving a sword and a gun and I believe he led the attack on the Westgate in an attempt to subvert a peaceful uprising for the vote into a revolution.
"But whereas Rees attempted to subvert it, the other side is that it was a 'Bloody Sunday'."
After the rising was crushed, Rees is believed to have fled back to the US where he died a lonely death as a gold panner in Northern California.
"It's a footnote in history," says Mr Humphries, "but if it was intended to be an uprising, and they had succeeded, it could have changed the face of Britain."
The Man fromThe Alamo: Why the Welsh Chartist Uprising of 1839 Ended in a Massacre is published on September 25 by Glyndwr Publishing
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QUOTED: "The story is at times barely comprehensible, and the historical threads need clearer explanation than they get."
8/7/17, 6(11 PM
Print Marked Items
Humphries, John: LAST RITES
Kirkus Reviews.
(Dec. 15, 2016): From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2016 Kirkus Media LLC http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Humphries, John LAST RITES Y Lolfa/Dufour (Adult Fiction) $16.00 2, 15 ISBN: 978-1-78461-253-5
A mysterious phone call leads to a world of complications in Welsh journalist Humphries' first work of fiction, which reads at various times like a supernatural thriller, a murder mystery, a World War II novel, a tale of international intrigue, and a study of obscure European history. Journalist Jack Flynt--who apparently lives in the present day yet works for the long-defunct International News Service--is startled by a woman on his phone crying "Help! He's trying to kill me," especially since the phone is an antique that hasn't been connected for decades. When the message keeps recurring, Flynt begins an investigation that draws him toward a group of World War II criminals who've been secretly living on an island off the Brittany coast. If that weren't enough, he is also drawn into an obscure territorial dispute between the French and the indigenous Bretons. He discovers that his ex-wife is dead, and seems oddly unmoved by that--and is also able to move freely between countries after being pegged as a murder suspect. The story contains numerous red herrings, briefly settling into a conventional murder-mystery plot at midpoint. While the various threads are tied together at the end, and an explanation for the phone calls is provided, the story is at times barely comprehensible, and the historical threads need clearer explanation than they get. With too much going on at once, the book never really decides on a narrative, much less a genre.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Humphries, John: LAST RITES." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Dec. 2016. PowerSearch, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA473652448&it=r&asid=c6ae12ab6bafb7c4be50244037f0cbe7. Accessed 7 Aug. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A473652448
QUOTED: "Flynt is an engaging character ... and the puzzle of the Bakelite phone will keep readers guessing."
about:blank Page 1 of 3
8/7/17, 6(11 PM
Last Rites
Publishers Weekly.
263.50 (Dec. 5, 2016): p53. From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Last Rites
John Humphries. Y Lolfa (Dufour, dist.), $16 trade paper (288p) ISBN 978-1-78461-253-5
British journalist Jack Flynt, an International News Service employee and the hero of Humphries's arresting first novel, keeps a collection of antique telephones in his Paris apartment. When one of them rings, a "heavy, black Bakelite rotary-dial," he picks up the receiver and hears a woman's voice say, "Help! He's trying to kill me." This is even more unsettling because the phone is disconnected. Flynt eventually travels to London, where he tries to determine if coma patient Helen Brenton, the victim of a car accident, is the mysterious voice pleading for help. Meanwhile, Flynt chases a story in Brittany about the last Nazi U-boat and the uncertain fate of its commander, Karl Scheer. While in Brittany, he also looks into French efforts to erase the Breton language and pursues rumors about Werewolf, the Nazi plan for a resistance movement after Germany's defeat. Flynt is an engaging character, the plight of the Bretons is forcefully presented, and the puzzle of the Bakelite phone will keep readers guessing to the end. (Feb.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Last Rites." Publishers Weekly, 5 Dec. 2016, p. 53. PowerSearch, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA475224856&it=r&asid=c9c3e07f2a44af612f2b2c335eb57854. Accessed 7 Aug. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A475224856
about:blank Page 2 of 3
8/7/17, 6(11 PM
The Man from the Alamo
Jaimes Ramon Olivares
Journal of the West.
46.3 (Summer 2007): p85. From Book Review Index Plus.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Olivares, Jaimes Ramon. "The Man from the Alamo." Journal of the West, vol. 46, no. 3, 2007, p. 85. PowerSearch,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do? p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA171839612&it=r&asid=33560dc60d0a15084bee5e58fee3ea7c. Accessed 7 Aug. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A171839612
about:blank Page 3 of 3
QUOTED: "Humphries weaves Welsh and Breton nationalism into a rich variety of plots and a goose-chase takes the intrepid reporter to London."
"He’s produced a fast-moving and gripping tale and the depth of his research informs as well as entertains."
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Last Rites by John Humphries (Y Lolfa, £8.99)
A TELEPHONE rings and there is a cry for help from a woman who says someone is trying to murder her.
But the telephone isn’t connected — it’s one in a collection of antiques owned by Jack Flynt, a news agency reporter.
Not unexpectedly, he becomes obsessed as the phone continues to ring from time to time with the same caller and her cry for help.
Jack embarks on an alcohol-fuelled journey in pursuit of the mystery caller and whoever is trying to kill her.
His odyssey takes in the funeral of his mother in the south Wales where he was brought up, on a council estate crammed with “a veritable traffic jam of single-parent pushchairs.”
Humphries weaves Welsh and Breton nationalism into a rich variety of plots and a goose-chase takes the intrepid reporter to London, where his efforts revive a woman in a coma and save her from having her life-support machine switched off at the request of her two-timing husband.
But Ile d’Iroise in Brittany is a major focus of the novel. There Jack’s estranged wife, who’s gone to teach Breton to local children, disappears in mysterious circumstances.
And it’s there that the focus shifts to a melange of characters and action, notably the remnants of a smuggling operation for well-off Muslims.
It’s masterminded by Bezen Perrot (Perrot’s Army), the name of a small band of Breton nationalists who collaborated with the Germans in WWII and who adopted their name after parish priest and leader of the Breton cultural movement Yann-Vari Perrot who was assassinated by the resistance in 1943.
To add a further dimension to the intrigue, the telephone turns out to be a sophisticated KGB bugging device and one of the delights of the novel is how well-informed Humphries is on the subject.
As a former newspaper editor, his knowledge of journalism is beyond question, although I wonder whether members of the fourth estate are quite as hard-drinking as his protagonist today. Even so, he’s produced a fast-moving and gripping tale and the depth of his research informs as well as entertains.
Gwyn Griffiths
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