P. J. Kavanagh

P. J. Kavanagh FRSL (6 January 1931 – 26 August 2015) was an English poet, lecturer, actor, broadcaster and columnist. His father was the ITMA scriptwriter Ted Kavanagh.

Life alt=Collection of the James Joyce Library, University College Dublin. Patrick Joseph Gregory Kavanagh worked as a Butlin's Redcoat, then as a newsreader for Radiodiffusion Française, in Paris. He attended acting classes but was called up for National Service, and was wounded in the Korean War. Kavanagh attended Merton College, Oxford, from 1951 to 1954; there he began to write poetry, and met Caroline Sarah Jane Philipps, also known as Sally, the daughter of the novelist Rosamond Lehmann. Due to his traumatic experience in Korea, Kavanagh had a hard time taking the educational institution seriously; however, he managed to pass the degree with second-class honours. He and Philipps wed in 1956 in the London Oratory; Most of his journalistic work was based on book and poetry reviews as well as his personal reflections and experience. He was editor of Collected Poems of Ivor Gurney, The Bodley Head G. K. Chesterton, The Essential G. K. Chesterton, The Oxford Book of Short Poems (with James Michie) and A Book of Consolations. He co-presented the programmes Poetry Please on BBC Radio 4 and Not So Much a Programme on BBC1 TV alongside David Frost and Willie Rushton.

P. J. Kavanagh spoke for RTÉ Radio 1 in 2013 about his national identity: “Even at school I was always regarded as 'Irish. "I was supposed to be good at rugby because I was Irish", "It was an imprint". He wrote a travel biography Finding Connections (1990), where he uncovered his family roots, going back to his great-grandfather, Patrick, and taking on a journey to Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand. He also published a literary companion, Voices in Ireland (1994), about the country viewed through local literature.

In 1995 he made an appearance on Father Ted, a popular British sitcom following the lives of Irish priests, where he co-starred alongside actors like Dermot Morgan, Ardal O'Hanlon and Frank Kelly.

Connection to the Irish poet Patrick Kavanagh P. J. Kavanagh considered himself a great admirer of the Irish poet, Patrick Kavanagh. The men met twice, where at first encounter Patrick Kavanagh asked him why he would not change his name. From that moment on, Kavanagh started using the abbreviation 'P. J.' in his writing to avoid potential confusion.

The Perfect Stranger Published in 1966, Kavanagh’s first major literary success and the most recognised work of Kavanagh’s legacy, The Perfect Stranger, is an autobiographical novel about the mourning of his first wife, Sally. A memoir about marriage and the life after it, death and finding purpose, The Perfect Stranger also dealt with Kavanagh's sense of humour.

During the process of writing The Perfect Stranger, P. J. Kavanagh remarried and lived with his family in rural England in Gloucestershire, residing in a renovated stone barn with a cottage nearby, where the poet had his creative space and writing room.

Death Kavanagh lived in Gloucestershire from 1963 until his death. He married his second wife, Catherine Ward, in 1965; they had two sons together.

Publications One and One, London: Heinemann, 1959. The Perfect Stranger (autobiography), London: Chatto and Windus, 1966. On the Way to the Depot, London: Chatto & Windus/The Hogarth Press, 1967. A Song and a Dance, 1968 About Time, London: Chatto & Windus/The Hogarth Press, 1970. A Happy Man, 1972. Edward Thomas in Heaven, London: Chatto & Windus/The Hogarth Press, 1974. People and Weather, London: John Calder, 1978. Scarf Jack, 1978. Life Before Death, London: Chatto & Windus/The Hogarth Press, 1979. Rebel for Good, 1980. Collected Poems of Ivor Gurney (editor), Oxford University Press, 1982 (paperback) The Oxford Book of Short Poems (co-editor with James Michie), Oxford University Press, 1985. The Bodley Head G. K. Chesterton, (editor), 1985 Only by Mistake, 1986. The Essential G. K. Chesterton, (editor), 1987 People and Places: a selection 1975–1987, 1988 Finding Connections, 1990 An Enchantment, Manchester: Carcanet, 1991. A Book of Consolations, (editor), 1992 Collected Poems. Manchester: Carcanet, 1995. Voices in Ireland: A Traveller's Literary Companion, John Murray, 1995. Something About, Manchester: Carcanet, 2004. P. J. Kavanagh Reading from his poems, The Poetry Archive 2005

Partial filmography Masters of Venus (1962) – Mike Lawrence of Arabia (1962) – Staff Major – Murray's Aide (uncredited) The Naked Brigade (1965) – Lt. Bentley Half Moon Street (1986) – General Sir George Newhouse Hidden Agenda (1990) – Alec Nevin