Coordinates	55°45′06″N37°37′04″N
name	Jonathan Swift
pseudonym	M.B. Drapier, Lemuel Gulliver, Isaac Bickerstaff
birth date	November 30, 1667
birth place	Dublin, Ireland1
death date	October 19, 1745
death place	Ireland
language	English
alma mater	Trinity College, Dublin
occupation	Satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer, poet, priest
notableworks	Gulliver's TravelsA Modest ProposalA Tale of a TubDrapier's Letters
influenced	George Orwell, H. G. Wells, William S. Burroughs, Charlotte Brontë, Machado de Assis
website	}}

Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, then for the Tories), poet and cleric who became Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin.

He is remembered for works such as Gulliver's Travels, A Modest Proposal, A Journal to Stella, Drapier's Letters, The Battle of the Books, An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity, and A Tale of a Tub. Swift is probably the foremost prose satirist in the English language, and is less well known for his poetry. Swift originally published all of his works under pseudonyms—such as Lemuel Gulliver, Isaac Bickerstaff, M.B. Drapier—or anonymously. He is also known for being a master of two styles of satire: the Horatian and Juvenalian styles.

Biography

Youth

Jonathan Swift was born at No. 7, Hoey's Court, Dublin, the city residence of his uncle and benefactor Godwin Swift (1628-1695), of Swifts Heath House, Co. Kilkenny. He was the second child and only son of Jonathan Swift (1640-1667) and his wife Abigail Erick (or Herrick), of Frisby-on-the-Wreake. His father, a native of Goodrich, Herefordshire, accompanied his brothers to Ireland to seek their fortunes in law after their Royalist father's estate was brought to ruin during the English Civil War. Swift's father died at Dublin before he was born, and his mother returned to England. He was left in the care of his influential uncle, Godwin, a close friend and confidante of Sir John Temple, whose son later employed Swift as his secretary.

Swift's family had several interesting literary connections: His grandmother, Elizabeth (Dryden) Swift, was the niece of Sir Erasmus Dryden, grandfather of the poet John Dryden. The same grandmother's aunt, Katherine (Throckmorton) Dryden, was a first cousin of the wife of Sir Walter Raleigh. His great-great grandmother, Margaret (Godwin) Swift, was the sister of Francis Godwin, author of The Man in the Moone which influenced parts of Swift's Gulliver's Travels. His uncle, Thomas Swift, married a daughter of the poet and playwright Sir William Davenant, a godson of William Shakespeare.

His uncle Godwin took primary responsibility for the young Jonathan, sending him with one of his cousins to Kilkenny College (also attended by the philosopher George Berkeley). In 1682 he attended Dublin University (Trinity College, Dublin), financed by Godwin's son, Willoughby, from where he received his B.A. in 1686, and developed his friendship with William Congreve. Swift was studying for his Master's degree when political troubles in Ireland surrounding the Glorious Revolution forced him to leave for England in 1688, where his mother helped him get a position as secretary and personal assistant of Sir William Temple at Moor Park, Farnham. Temple was an English diplomat who, having arranged the Triple Alliance of 1668, retired from public service to his country estate to tend his gardens and write his memoirs. Gaining the confidence of his employer, Swift "was often trusted with matters of great importance." Within three years of their acquaintance, Temple had introduced his secretary to William III, and sent him to London to urge the King to consent to a bill for triennial Parliaments.

When Swift took up his residence at Moor Park, he met Esther Johnson, then eight years old, the fatherless daughter of one of the household servants. Swift acted as her tutor and mentor, giving her the nickname "Stella", and the two maintained a close but ambiguous relationship for the rest of Esther's life.

Swift left Temple in 1690 for Ireland because of his health, but returned to Moor Park the following year. The illness, fits of vertigo or giddiness—now known to be Ménière's disease—would continue to plague Swift throughout his life. During this second stay with Temple, Swift received his M.A. from Hertford College, Oxford in 1692. Then, apparently despairing of gaining a better position through Temple's patronage, Swift left Moor Park to become an ordained priest in the Established Church of Ireland and in 1694 he was appointed to the prebend of Kilroot in the Diocese of Connor, with his parish located at Kilroot, near Carrickfergus in County Antrim.

Swift appears to have been miserable in his new position, being isolated in a small, remote community far from the centres of power and influence. While at Kilroot, however, Swift may well have become romantically involved with Jane Waring. A letter from him survives, offering to remain if she would marry him and promising to leave and never return to Ireland if she refused. She presumably refused, because Swift left his post and returned to England and Temple's service at Moor Park in 1696, and he remained there until Temple's death. There he was employed in helping to prepare Temple's memoirs and correspondence for publication. During this time Swift wrote The Battle of the Books, a satire responding to critics of Temple's Essay upon Ancient and Modern Learning (1690). Battle was however not published until 1704.

On 27 January 1699 Temple died. Swift stayed on briefly in England to complete the editing of Temple's memoirs, and perhaps in the hope that recognition of his work might earn him a suitable position in England. However, Swift's work made enemies of some of Temple's family and friends who objected to indiscretions included in the memoirs. His next move was to approach King William directly, based on his imagined connection through Temple and a belief that he had been promised a position. This failed so miserably that he accepted the lesser post of secretary and chaplain to the Earl of Berkeley, one of the Lords Justices of Ireland. However, when he reached Ireland he found that the secretaryship had already been given to another. But he soon obtained the living of Laracor, Agher, and Rathbeggan, and the prebend of Dunlavin in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin.

At Laracor, a mile or two from Trim, County Meath, and twenty miles (32 km) from Dublin, Swift ministered to a congregation of about fifteen people, and had abundant leisure for cultivating his garden, making a canal (after the Dutch fashion of Moor Park), planting willows, and rebuilding the vicarage. As chaplain to Lord Berkeley, he spent much of his time in Dublin and traveled to London frequently over the next ten years. In 1701, Swift published, anonymously, a political pamphlet, A Discourse on the Contests and Dissentions in Athens and Rome.

Writer

In February 1702, Swift received his Doctor of Divinity degree from Trinity College, Dublin. That spring he traveled to England and returned to Ireland in October, accompanied by Esther Johnson—now twenty years old—and his friend Rebecca Dingley, another member of William Temple's household. There is a great mystery and controversy over Swift's relationship with Esther Johnson nicknamed "Stella". Many hold that they were secretly married in 1716.

During his visits to England in these years Swift published A Tale of a Tub and The Battle of the Books (1704) and began to gain a reputation as a writer. This led to close, lifelong friendships with Alexander Pope, John Gay, and John Arbuthnot, forming the core of the Martinus Scriblerus Club (founded in 1713).

Swift became increasingly active politically in these years. From 1707 to 1709 and again in 1710, Swift was in London, unsuccessfully urging upon the Whig administration of Lord Godolphin the claims of the Irish clergy to the First-Fruits and Twentieths ("Queen Anne's Bounty"), which brought in about £2,500 a year, already granted to their brethren in England. He found the opposition Tory leadership more sympathetic to his cause and Swift was recruited to support their cause as editor of the Examiner when they came to power in 1710. In 1711, Swift published the political pamphlet "The Conduct of the Allies," attacking the Whig government for its inability to end the prolonged war with France. The incoming Tory government conducted secret (and illegal) negotiations with France, resulting in the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) ending the War of the Spanish Succession.

Swift was part of the inner circle of the Tory government, and often acted as mediator between Henry St. John (Viscount Bolingbroke) the secretary of state for foreign affairs (1710–15) and Robert Harley (Earl of Oxford) lord treasurer and prime minister (1711–1714). Swift recorded his experiences and thoughts during this difficult time in a long series of letters to Esther Johnson, later collected and published as The Journal to Stella. The animosity between the two Tory leaders eventually led to the dismissal of Harley in 1714. With the death of Queen Anne and accession of George I that year, the Whigs returned to power and the Tory leaders were tried for treason for conducting secret negotiations with France.

Also during these years in London, Swift became acquainted with the Vanhomrigh family and became involved with one of the daughters, Esther, yet another fatherless young woman and another ambiguous relationship to confuse Swift's biographers. Swift furnished Esther with the nickname "Vanessa" and she features as one of the main characters in his poem Cadenus and Vanessa. The poem and their correspondence suggests that Esther was infatuated with Swift, and that he may have reciprocated her affections, only to regret this and then try to break off the relationship. Esther followed Swift to Ireland in 1714, where there appears to have been a confrontation, possibly involving Esther Johnson. Esther Vanhomrigh died in 1723 at the age of 35. Another lady with whom he had a close but less intense relationship was Anne Long, a toast of the Kit-Cat Club.

Maturity

Before the fall of the Tory government, Swift hoped that his services would be rewarded with a church appointment in England. However, Queen Anne appeared to have taken a dislike to Swift and thwarted these efforts. The best position his friends could secure for him was the Deanery of St. Patrick's, Dublin. With the return of the Whigs, Swift's best move was to leave England and he returned to Ireland in disappointment, a virtual exile, to live "like a rat in a hole".

Once in Ireland, however, Swift began to turn his pamphleteering skills in support of Irish causes, producing some of his most memorable works: Proposal for Universal Use of Irish Manufacture (1720), Drapier's Letters (1724), and A Modest Proposal (1729), earning him the status of an Irish patriot.

Also during these years, he began writing his masterpiece, Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts, by Lemuel Gulliver, first a surgeon, and then a captain of several ships, better known as Gulliver's Travels. Much of the material reflects his political experiences of the preceding decade. For instance, the episode in which the giant Gulliver puts out the Lilliputian palace fire by urinating on it can be seen as a metaphor for the Tories' illegal peace treaty; having done a good thing in an unfortunate manner. In 1726 he paid a long-deferred visit to London, taking with him the manuscript of Gulliver's Travels. During his visit he stayed with his old friends Alexander Pope, John Arbuthnot and John Gay, who helped him arrange for the anonymous publication of his book. First published in November 1726, it was an immediate hit, with a total of three printings that year and another in early 1727. French, German, and Dutch translations appeared in 1727, and pirated copies were printed in Ireland.

Swift returned to England one more time in 1727 and stayed with Alexander Pope once again. The visit was cut short when Swift received word that Esther Johnson was dying and rushed back home to be with her. On 28 January 1728, Esther Johnson died; Swift had prayed at her bedside, even composing prayers for her comfort. Swift could not bear to be present at the end, but on the night of her death he began to write his The Death of Mrs. Johnson. He was too ill to attend the funeral at St. Patrick's. Many years later, a lock of hair, assumed to be Esther Johnson's, was found in his desk, wrapped in a paper bearing the words, "Only a woman's hair."

Death became a frequent feature in Swift's life from this point. In 1731 he wrote Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift, his own obituary published in 1739. In 1732, his good friend and collaborator John Gay died. In 1735, John Arbuthnot, another friend from his days in London, died. In 1738 Swift began to show signs of illness, and in 1742 he appears to have suffered a stroke, losing the ability to speak and realizing his worst fears of becoming mentally disabled. ("I shall be like that tree," he once said, "I shall die at the top.") To protect him from unscrupulous hangers on, who had begun to prey on the great man, his closest companions had him declared of "unsound mind and memory." However, it was long believed by many that Swift was really insane at this point. In his book Literature and Western Man, author J.B. Priestley even cites the final chapters of Gulliver's Travels as proof of Swift's approaching "insanity".

In part VIII of his series, The Story of Civilization, Will Durant describes the final years of Swift's life as such:

"Definite symptoms of madness appeared in 1738. In 1741 guardians were appointed to take care of his affairs and watch lest in his outbursts of violence he should do himself harm. In 1742 he suffered great pain from the inflammation of his left eye, which swelled to the size of an egg; five attendants had to restrain him from tearing out his eye. He went a whole year without uttering a word."

In 1744, Alexander Pope died. Then, on October 19, 1745, Swift died. After being laid out in public view for the people of Dublin to pay their last respects, he was buried in his own cathedral by Esther Johnson's side, in accordance with his wishes. The bulk of his fortune (twelve thousand pounds) was left to found a hospital for the mentally ill, originally known as St. Patrick’s Hospital for Imbeciles, which opened in 1757, and which still exists as a psychiatric hospital.

Epitaph

:Text extracted from the introduction to The Journal to Stella by George A. Aitken and from other sources)

Jonathan Swift wrote his own epitaph:

: Hic depositum est Corpus : IONATHAN SWIFT S.T.D. : Hujus Ecclesiæ Cathedralis : Decani, : Ubi sæva Indignatio : Ulterius : Cor lacerare nequit, : Abi Viator : Et imitare, si poteris, : Strenuum pro virili : Libertatis Vindicatorem.

: Obiit 19º Die Mensis Octobris : A.D. 1745 Anno Ætatis 78º.

The literal translation of which is: "Here is laid the Body of Jonathan Swift, Doctor of Sacred Theology, Dean of this Cathedral Church, where fierce Indignation can no longer injure the Heart. Go forth, Voyager, and copy, if you can, this vigorous (to the best of his ability) Champion of Liberty. He died on the 19th Day of the Month of October, A.D. 1745, in the 78th Year of his Age."

William Butler Yeats poetically translated it from the Latin as:

: Swift has sailed into his rest. : Savage indignation there : cannot lacerate his breast. : Imitate him if you dare, : world-besotted traveller. : He served human liberty.

Works

Swift was a prolific writer, notable for his satires. The most recent collection of his prose works (Herbert Davis, ed. Basil Blackwell, 1965-) comprises fourteen volumes. A recent edition of his complete poetry (Pat Rodges, ed. Penguin, 1983) is 953 pages long. One edition of his correspondence (David Woolley, ed. P. Lang, 1999) fills three volumes.

Major prose works

Swift's first major prose work, A Tale of a Tub, demonstrates many of the themes and stylistic techniques he would employ in his later work. It is at once wildly playful and funny while being pointed and harshly critical of its targets. In its main thread, the Tale recounts the exploits of three sons, representing the main threads of Christianity, who receive a bequest from their father of a coat each, with the added instructions to make no alterations whatsoever. However, the sons soon find that their coats have fallen out of current fashion, and begin to look for loopholes in their father's will that will let them make the needed alterations. As each finds his own means of getting around their father's admonition, they struggle with each other for power and dominance. Inserted into this story, in alternating chapters, the narrator includes a series of whimsical "digressions" on various subjects.

In 1690, Sir William Temple, Swift's patron, published An Essay upon Ancient and Modern Learning a defense of classical writing (see Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns) holding up the Epistles of Phalaris as an example. William Wotton responded to Temple with Reflections upon Ancient and Modern Learning (1694) showing that the Epistles were a later forgery. A response by the supporters of the Ancients was then made by Charles Boyle (later the 4th Earl of Orrery and father of Swift's first biographer). A further retort on the Modern side came from Richard Bentley, one of the pre-eminent scholars of the day, in his essay Dissertation upon the Epistles of Phalaris (1699). However, the final words on the topic belong to Swift in his Battle of the Books (1697, published 1704) in which he makes a humorous defense on behalf of Temple and the cause of the Ancients.

In 1708, a cobbler named John Partridge published a popular almanac of astrological predictions. Because Partridge falsely determined the deaths of several church officials, Swift attacked Partridge in Predictions For The Ensuing Year by Isaac Bickerstaff, a parody predicting that Partridge would die on March 29. Swift followed up with a pamphlet issued on March 30 claiming that Partridge had in fact died, which was widely believed despite Partridge's statements to the contrary. According to other sources, Richard Steele uses the personae of Isaac Bickerstaff and was the one who wrote about the "death" of John Partridge and published it in The Spectator, not Jonathan Swift.*

Drapier's Letters (1724) was a series of pamphlets against the monopoly granted by the English government to William Wood to provide the Irish with copper coinage. It was widely believed that Wood would need to flood Ireland with debased coinage in order make a profit. In these "letters" Swift posed as a shop-keeper—a draper—in order to criticize the plan. Swift's writing was so effective in undermining opinion in the project that a reward was offered by the government to anyone disclosing the true identity of the author. Though hardly a secret (on returning to Dublin after one of his trips to England, Swift was greeted with a banner, "Welcome Home, Drapier") no one turned Swift in. The government eventually resorted to hiring none other than Sir Isaac Newton to certify the soundness of Wood's coinage to counter Swift's accusations. In "Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift" (1739) Swift recalled this as one of his best achievements.

Gulliver's Travels, a large portion of which Swift wrote at Woodbrook House in County Laois, was published in 1726. It is regarded as his masterpiece. As with his other writings, the Travels was published under a pseudonym, the fictional Lemuel Gulliver, a ship's surgeon and later a sea captain. Some of the correspondence between printer Benj. Motte and Gulliver's also-fictional cousin negotiating the book's publication has survived. Though it has often been mistakenly thought of and published in bowdlerized form as a children's book, it is a great and sophisticated satire of human nature based on Swift's experience of his times. Gulliver's Travels is an anatomy of human nature, a sardonic looking-glass, often criticized for its apparent misanthropy. It asks its readers to refute it, to deny that it has adequately characterized human nature and society. Each of the four books—recounting four voyages to mostly-fictional exotic lands—has a different theme, but all are attempts to deflate human pride. Critics hail the work as a satiric reflection on the shortcomings of Enlightenment thought.

In 1729, Swift published A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland Being a Burden on Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Publick, a satire in which the narrator, with intentionally grotesque logic, recommends that Ireland's poor escape their poverty by selling their children as food to the rich: ”I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food...” Following the satirical form, he introduces the reforms he is actually suggesting by deriding them:

Therefore let no man talk to me of other expedients...taxing our absentees...using [nothing] except what is of our own growth and manufacture...rejecting...foreign luxury...introducing a vein of parsimony, prudence and temperance...learning to love our country...quitting our animosities and factions...teaching landlords to have at least one degree of mercy towards their tenants....Therefore I repeat, let no man talk to me of these and the like expedients, 'till he hath at least some glympse of hope, that there will ever be some hearty and sincere attempt to put them into practice.

Essays, tracts, pamphlets, periodicals

"A Meditation upon a Broomstick" (1703–1710): Full text: munseys.com

"A Critical Essay upon the Faculties of the Mind" (1707–1711)

The Bickerstaff-Partridge Papers (1708–1709): Full text: U of Adelaide

"An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity" (1708–1711): Full text: U of Adelaide

The Intelligencer (with Thomas Sheridan) (1719–1788): Text: Project Gutenberg

The Examiner (1710): Texts: Ourcivilisation.com, Project Gutenberg

"A Proposal for Correcting, Improving and Ascertaining the English Tongue" (1712): Full texts: Jack Lynch, U of Virginia

"On the Conduct of the Allies" (1713)

"Hints Toward an Essay on Conversation" (1713): Full text: Bartleby.com

"A Letter to a Young Gentleman, Lately Entered into Holy Orders" (1720)

"A Letter of Advice to a Young Poet" (1721): Full text: Bartleby.com

Drapier's Letters (1724, 1725): Full text: Project Gutenberg

"Bon Mots de Stella" (1726): a curiously irrelevant appendix to "Gulliver's Travels"

"A Modest Proposal", perhaps the most notable satire in English, suggesting that the Irish should engage in cannibalism. (Written in 1729)

"An Essay on the Fates of Clergymen": Full text: JaffeBros

"A Treatise on Good Manners and Good Breeding": Full text: Bartleby.com

Poems

"Ode to the Athenian Society", Swift's first publication, printed in The Athenian Mercury in the supplement of Feb 14, 1691.

Poems of Jonathan Swift, D.D. Texts at Project Gutenberg: Volume One, Volume Two

"Baucis and Philemon" (1706–1709): Full text: Munseys

"A Description of the Morning" (1709): Full annotated text: U of Toronto; Another text: U of Virginia

"A Description of a City Shower" (1710): Full text: U of Virginia

"Cadenus and Vanessa" (1713): Full text: Munseys

"Phillis, or, the Progress of Love" (1719): Full text: theotherpages.org

Stella's birthday poems:

* 1719. Full annotated text: U of Toronto

* 1720. Full text: U of Virginia

* 1727. Full text: U of Toronto

"The Progress of Beauty" (1719–1720): Full text: OurCivilisation.com

"The Progress of Poetry" (1720): Full text: theotherpages.org

"A Satirical Elegy on the Death of a Late Famous General" (1722): Full text: U of Toronto

"To Quilca, a Country House not in Good Repair" (1725): Full text: U of Toronto

"Advice to the Grub Street Verse-writers" (1726): Full text: U of Toronto

"The Furniture of a Woman's Mind" (1727)

"On a Very Old Glass" (1728): Full text: Gosford.co.uk

"A Pastoral Dialogue" (1729): Full text: Gosford.co.uk

"The Grand Question debated Whether Hamilton's Bawn should be turned into a Barrack or a Malt House" (1729): Full text: Gosford.co.uk

"On Stephen Duck, the Thresher and Favourite Poet" (1730): Full text: U of Toronto

"Death and Daphne" (1730): Full text: OurCivilisation.com

"The Place of the Damn'd" (1731): Full text

"A Beautiful Young Nymph Going to Bed" (1731): Full annotated text: Jack Lynch; Another text: U of Virginia

"Strephon and Chloe" (1731): Full annotated text: Jack Lynch; Another text: U of Virginia

"Helter Skelter" (1731): Full text: OurCivilisation.com

"Cassinus and Peter: A Tragical Elegy" (1731): Full annotated text: Jack Lynch

"The Day of Judgment" (1731): Full text

"Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift, D.S.P.D." (1731–1732): Full annotated texts: Jack Lynch, U of Toronto; Non-annotated text:: U of Virginia

"An Epistle To A Lady" (1732): Full text: OurCivilisation.com

"The Beasts' Confession to the Priest" (1732): Full annotated text: U of Toronto

"The Lady's Dressing Room" (1732): Full annotated text: Jack Lynch

"On Poetry: A Rhapsody" (1733)

"The Puppet Show" Full text: Worldwideschool.org

"The Logicians Refuted" Full text: Worldwideschool.org

Correspondence, personal writings

"When I Come to Be Old" – Swift's resolutions. (1699): Full text: JaffeBros

The Journal to Stella (1710–1713): Full text (presented as daily entries): The Journal to Stella; Extracts: OurCivilisation.com;

Letters:

* Selected Letters: JaffeBros

* To Oxford and Pope: OurCivilisation.com

'The Correspondence of Jonathan Swift, D.D'. Edited by David Woolley. In four volumes, plus index volume. Frankfurt am Main ; New York : P. Lang, c1999-c2007.

Sermons, prayers

Three Sermons and Three Prayers. Full text: U of Adelaide, Project Gutenberg

Three Sermons: I. on mutual subjection. II. on conscience. III. on the trinity. Text: Project Gutenberg

Writings on Religion and the Church. Text at Project Gutenberg: Volume One, Volume Two

"The First He Wrote Oct. 17, 1727." Full text: Worldwideschool.org

"The Second Prayer Was Written Nov. 6, 1727." Full text: Worldwideschool.org

Miscellany

Directions to Servants (1731):: Extracts: OurCivilisation.com

A Complete Collection of Genteel and Ingenious Conversation (1738)

"Thoughts on Various Subjects." Full text: U of Adelaide

Historical Writings: Project Gutenberg

Swift Quotations: JaffeBros – many choice, well-documented Swift quotations here

Swift quotes at Bartleby: Bartleby.com – 59 quotations, with notes

Legacy

John Ruskin named him as one of the three people in history who were the most influential for him.

Notes

Biographical sources

Samuel Johnson's "Life of Swift": JaffeBros. From his Lives of the Poets.

William Makepeace Thackeray's influential vitriolic biography: JaffeBros. From his English Humourists of The Eighteenth Century.

Bullitt, John M. Jonathan Swift and the Anatomy of Satire: A Study of Satiric Technique, 1953, Cambridge: Harvard U P,

Jae Num Lee "Swift and Scatological Satire", 1971, University of New Mexico Press, ISBN 0826301967 jstor review

Lee, Jae Num. "Scatology in Continental Satirical Writings from Aristophanes to Rabelais" and "English Scatological Writings from Skelton to Pope." Swift and Scatological Satire. Albuquerque: U of New Mexico P, 1971. 7–22; 23–53.

Susan Gubar "The Female Monster in Augustan Satire" Signs, Vol. 3, No. 2 (Winter, 1977), pp. 380–394

Many other sources are listed here.

See also

Poor Richard's Almanack

Sweetness and light

External links

Free audiobook of A Modest Proposal from LibriVox

BBC audio file "Swift's A modest Proposal". BBC discussion. In our time.

E-texts of works

The Online Books Page

Gulliver's Travels

Category:1667 births Category:1745 deaths Category:18th-century Anglican clergy Category:Alumni of Hertford College, Oxford Category:Alumni of Kilkenny College Category:Anglo-Irish artists Category:Anglo-Irish people Category:Burials at St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin Category:Christian writers Category:English Anglicans Category:English fantasy writers Category:English novelists Category:English poets Category:English political writers Category:English satirists Category:Irish fantasy writers Category:Irish novelists Category:Irish poets Category:Irish political writers Category:Irish satirists Category:Neoclassical writers Category:People associated with Trinity College, Dublin Category:People from County Dublin Category:Church of Ireland deans

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Coordinates	55°45′06″N37°37′04″N
name	Jonathan Richman
background	solo_singer
birth date	May 16, 1951
origin	Natick, Massachusetts, United States
instrument	Guitarist, vocalist, saxophonist
genre	Rock, New wave, proto-punk
occupation	Musician, songwriter
years active	1970 – present
label	Beserkley Records
associated acts	The Modern Lovers
notable instruments	}}

Jonathan Michael Richman (born May 16, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. In 1970 he founded The Modern Lovers, an influential proto-punk band. Since the mid-1970s, Richman has worked either solo or with low-key, generally acoustic backing. He is known for his wide-eyed, unaffected and child-like outlook, and music that, while rooted in rock and roll, often draws on influences from around the world.

Biography

Early life

Born in Natick, Massachusetts, Richman began playing music and writing his own songs in the mid-1960s. He became infatuated with The Velvet Underground, and in 1969 he moved to New York City, lived on the couch of their manager, Steve Sesnick, worked odd jobs and tried to break in as a professional musician. Failing at this, he returned to Boston.

The Modern Lovers

While in Boston, Richman formed The Modern Lovers, a proto-punk garage rock band. Other notable members of the group were keyboard player Jerry Harrison and drummer David Robinson, who later joined Talking Heads and The Cars, respectively. Many of the group's songs feature Boston-based topics.

In 1972 they recorded a series of demos with producer John Cale (formerly of the Velvet Underground). Among these songs were the seminal "Roadrunner" and "Pablo Picasso" which were eventually released on the group's post-breakup album, The Modern Lovers (August, 1976). The album was unique for its time, featuring Velvets-influenced basic three-chord rock ("Roadrunner" - based on just two chords - is an homage to "Sister Ray") at a time when glam and progressive rock were the norm.

Later in 1972, the group also recorded with producer Kim Fowley; these demos were eventually released in 1981 as The Original Modern Lovers. Despite playing live regularly, the Modern Lovers had a difficult time securing a recording contract. By late 1973, Richman wanted to scrap the recorded tracks and start again with a mellower, more lyrical sound, influenced by the laid-back local music he had heard when the band had a residency at the Inverurie Hotel in Bermuda earlier in the year. This stymied efforts to complete a debut album, and led to the breakup of the original Modern Lovers in February 1974.

Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers

In 1975, Richman moved to California to record as a solo singer/songwriter with Beserkley Records. His first released recordings appeared on 1975's Beserkley Chartbusters compilation, where he was backed by members of Earth Quake and the Rubinoos; these four songs also appeared on singles on the independent Beserkley label.

In January 1976, Richman put together a new version of the Modern Lovers, which included original Modern Lovers drummer, David Robinson, along with former Rubinoos bassist, Greg 'Curly' Keranen and Leroy Radcliffe, on guitar. The albums produced by the new group found Richman turning away from electric rock music towards gentler acoustic textures, with a strong rooting in 1950s rock and roll (Chuck Berry's "Back in the USA" was part of his repertoire).

The album, Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers, was released in May, 1976 (three months before the earlier The Modern Lovers sessions were finally released) but David Robinson left the group soon thereafter, due to frustration with Richman's quest for lower volume levels, and joined with Ric Ocasek in forming the band The Cars.

After several months as a trio, Richman found a new drummer, D. Sharpe (aka David) - an accomplished avant garde jazz player on the Boston scene, who later went on to become a member of pianist Carla Bley's band.

Drawing inspiration from such artists as the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Paul Motian and Anthony Braxton, D. Sharpe replaced the traditional rock and roll drum kit with an eclectic assortment of percussion instruments, including a large African three-legged drum covered in zebra skin; a 1947 De Soto automobile hub-cap (cum snare drum); a rack full of various pot lids and bells hanging on strings; exotic cymbals with many tonal 'imperfections'; frequent use of mallets instead of drumsticks, and brushes with which he would sometimes simply 'play the air' (i.e., without hitting anything else), as could be felt more than heard, especially in live performances, of the song "Afternoon."

Rock and Roll with the Modern Lovers was released in 1977 and, just as this record began to climb the charts in Europe, Keranen left the group (to attend college). A subsequent live album, Modern Lovers Live was released in 1978, featuring Asa Brebner on bass.

In the United Kingdom, Richman was recognised as a progenitor of the punk rock scene, and several of his singles became hits. "Roadrunner" reached Number 11 in the UK Singles Chart, and its follow-up, the instrumental "Egyptian Reggae", made Number 5 in late 1977. "Egyptian Reggae" was a version of Jamaican musician Earl Zero's reggae song "None Shall Escape the Judgment"; Zero was credited as co-writer on Richman's later versions of the track.

Back in Your Life was released in 1979 under the "Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers" moniker, but only about half the disc featured a backup band. The rest was solo work.

Solo

Following the Modern Lovers' final breakup, Richman went on sabbatical for a few years staying in Appleton, Maine and playing at a local diner in Belfast, Maine, called Barb's Place. He returned in 1983 with Jonathan Sings!, followed by "Rockin' and Romance" (produced by Andy Paley and engineered by Daniel Levitin). These were followed up with a brace of pop efforts (It's Time for Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers, and Modern Lovers 88 from 1986 and 1988 respectively). After the latter release, the "Modern Lovers" moniker was finally retired, and having begun a true "solo" career, he returned to a variety of musical genres: country music with 1990's Jonathan Goes Country, and Spanish translations of his earlier work (as well as traditional Spanish language songs) with Jonathan, Te Vas a Emocionar! (1993).

In 1993, he contributed the track "Hot Nights" to the AIDS-Benefit Album No Alternative produced by the Red Hot Organization.

Always possessing an ardent cult following, Richman has become better known in recent years thanks to a series of appearances on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

Another major profile boost was a key part in the Farrelly Brothers' 1998 film, There's Something About Mary, where he played half of a two-man Greek chorus that commented on the plot while performing in the framed action itself. He also appeared briefly in a bar scene in a previous Farrelly Brothers film, Kingpin. He also performed a song called "As We Walk to Fenway Park" for the 2005 Farrelly-directed comedy Fever Pitch.

Richman has continued his release schedule all along, with You Must Ask the Heart (1995), Surrender to Jonathan (1996), I'm So Confused (1998), Her Mystery Not of High Heels and Eye Shadow (2001), and Not So Much to Be Loved as to Love (2004). In 1998 a live album of Modern Lovers recordings from the early 1970s was released, Live at the Long Branch & More. There is also a DVD of a live performance, Take me to the Plaza (2002).

In live solo shows, he frequently tours with drummer Tommy Larkins, the other part of the two-man chorus mentioned above.

Personal life

His first marriage was to Gail Clook of Vermont, in 1983. This ended in divorce sometime shortly before the release of Surrender to Jonathan (1996).

In 2003, Richman married Nicole Montalbano of Chico, California. She contributed backing vocals to the album Not So Much to Be Loved as to Love (2004).

He has a daughter, Jenny Rae, from his first marriage. She was a backing vocalist on 2004's Not So Much To Be Loved As To Love.

Influence

Richman's work with the first incarnation of Modern Lovers is a major influence on punk rock. One critic called him the "Godfather of Punk". Artists as diverse as the Sex Pistols and Joan Jett have covered "Roadrunner". Boston ska-punk band, Big D and the Kids Table, have covered "New England" live and on their Gypsy Hill EP. A version of "Pablo Picasso" performed by Burning Sensations was included in the 1984 cult film, Repo Man. David Bowie covered "Pablo Picasso" on his album Reality. Velvet Underground founding member John Cale has a version of the song on his 1975 album, Helen of Troy, and continues to include the song in his live shows, although it should be noted that rather than being influenced by Richman, Cale was the producer of the original Modern Lovers' version of the song. Iggy Pop has performed "Pablo Picasso" live and wrote an extra verse for it. Echo and the Bunnymen covered "She Cracked" in concert in 1984 and 1985.

Richman's music has set the tone for many alternative rock bands, such as Violent Femmes, They Might Be Giants ("Roadrunner" reportedly inspired John Flansburgh to become a musician), Weezer, Tullycraft, Jens Lekman, singer Frank Black (who composed the tribute song "The Man Who Was Too Loud"), Brandon Flowers, Art Brut, Craig Finn of The Hold Steady & Lifter Puller and Nerf Herder who composed a song about him, titled "Jonathan", which appeared on the band's second album How To Meet Girls. British country rock band, The Rockingbirds released the single "Jonathan, Jonathan" in tribute to Richman in 1992.

As a producer himself, Richman and drummer Tommy Larkin produced Vic Chesnutt's final album Skitter on Take-Off in 2009 which appeared on Vapor Records. Chesnutt opened for Richman at concerts many times during his later years.

"Roadrunner" is on the soundtrack of School of Rock. In the commentary, director Richard Linklater mentions it is often called "the first punk song" and wanted to include it for that reason, along with all the other seminal rock songs in that film.

A tribute album, If I Were a Richman: a Tribute to the Music of Jonathan Richman, was released by Wampus Multimedia in 2001.

Discography

Studio albums

The Modern Lovers (1976)

Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers (1976)

Rock 'n' Roll with the Modern Lovers (1977)

Modern Lovers 'Live' (1977)

Back in Your Life (1979)

The Original Modern Lovers (1981)

Jonathan Sings! (1983)

Rockin' & Romance (1985)

It's Time For (1986)

Modern Lovers 88 (1988)

Jonathan Richman (1989)

Jonathan Goes Country (1990)

Having a Party with Jonathan Richman (1991)

I, Jonathan (1992)

¡Jonathan, Te Vas a Emocionar! (1994)

You Must Ask the Heart (1995)

Surrender to Jonathan (1996)

I'm So Confused (1998)

Radio On/Stop And Shop With The Modern Lovers (2 on 1) (1998)

Her Mystery Not of High Heels and Eye Shadow (2001)

Not So Much to Be Loved as to Love (2004)

Revolution Summer (2007)

Because Her Beauty Is Raw and Wild (2008)

¿ A qué venimos sino a caer ? (2008)

O Moon, Queen of Night on Earth (2010)

Live albums

Live at the Longbranch Saloon (1992)

Precise Modern Lovers Order (1994)

Live at the Longbranch and More (1998)

(These three live albums are from the same three 1971-3 performances, but add and subtract a few different songs. The last two, combined, contain all the songs)

Compilations

Beserkley Chartbusters Vol. 1 (Compilation, four songs) (1975)

"I'm Straight" and "Government Center", from the Modern Lovers' Kim Fowley produced Beserkley sessions, first appeared on the Warner Bros. Records compilation, Troublemakers (1980)

"I Like Gumby"; On the Gumby compilation album - Jonathan Richman

1993, contributed "Hot Nights" (live) to the AIDS-Benefit Album No Alternative produced by the Red Hot Organization.

Performs "Stop Your Sobbing" on the 2002 Kinks tribute album This Is Where I Belong.

Action Packed: The Best Of Jonathan Richman (2002)

"The Origin of Love" on Wig in a Box (2003)

"Our Dog Is Getting Older Now"; on the charity album Colours Are Brighter (October 2006)

Singles

US issues except where stated

"Roadrunner" / "It Will Stand" (United Artists UP36006, 1975)

"Roadrunner" / ("Friday On My Mind" by Earth Quake) (Beserkley B-4701, 1976)

"Roadrunner (Once)" / "Roadrunner (Twice)" (Beserkley BZZ 1, UK, 1976)

"Roadrunner" / "Pablo Picasso" (Beserkley PA-205, 1976)

"New England" / "Here Come The Martian Martians" (Beserkley B-5743, 1976)

"Egyptian Reggae" / "Ice Cream Man" (Beserkley 6.12 217, 1977)

"Egyptian Reggae" / "Rollercoaster By The Sea" (Beserkley BZZ 2, UK, 1977)

"The Morning Of Our Lives (Live)" / "Roadrunner (Thrice) (Live)" (Beserkley BZZ 7, UK, 1977)

"New England (Live)" / "Astral Plane (Live)" (Beserkley BZZ 14, UK, 1978)

"Abdul and Cleopatra" / "Astral Plane (Live)" (Beserkley 11813, 1978)

"Abdul and Cleopatra" / "Oh Carol" (Beserkley BZZ 19, UK, 1978)

"Buzz, Buzz, Buzz" / "Abdul and Cleopatra" (Beserkley 6.12 311, 1978)

"Buzz, Buzz, Buzz" / "Hospital (Live)" (BZZ 25, UK, 1978)

"My Little Kookenhaken" / "Roadrunner (Thrice) (Live)" (Beserkley 11819, 1978)

"South American Folk Song (Live)" / "Ice Cream Man (Live)" (1978)

"Lydia" / "Important In Your Life" (BZZ 28, UK, 1979)

"That Summer Feeling" / "This Kind Of Music" (1984)

"That Summer Feeling" / "This Kind Of Music" / "Tag Game" (Rough Trade RTT 152, UK, 1984)

"I'm Just Beginning To Live" / "Circle I" (1985)

"I'm Just Beginning To Live" / "Circle I" / "Shirin and Fahrad" (Rough Trade RTT 154, UK, 1985)

"California Desert Party" / "When Harpo Played His Harp" (DRD 1D474, Spain, 1988)

"Egyptian Reggae" / "Roadrunner" (1989)

References

Further reading

Tim Mitchell, There's Something About Jonathan, London: Peter Owen Publishers, 1999, ISBN 0-7206-1076-1

External links

Simes' Jonathan Richman pages - a comprehensive Jonathan Richman discography

Jonathan Richman - (in Spanish)

The Bostonians - article by Keith Gessen

Oh You're So Silent Jonathan Richman - article by Tony DuShane

Category:1951 births Category:Living people Category:People from Natick, Massachusetts Category:American rock singers Category:American male singers Category:Songwriters from Massachusetts Category:American rock guitarists Category:Musicians from Massachusetts Category:The Modern Lovers members Category:Protopunk musicians

da:Jonathan Richman de:Jonathan Richman fr:Jonathan Richman it:Jonathan Richman he:ג'ונתן ריצ'מן nl:Jonathan Richman no:Jonathan Richman pl:Jonathan Richman fi:Jonathan Richman sv:Jonathan Richman

Jonathan Mendelsohn is the director of general election resources for the British Labour Party. He had previously been a spokesman and lobbyist for the gambling company PartyGaming. He is the former chairman of Labour Friends of Israel.

With Neal Lawson and Ben Lucas, he founded LLM Communications in 1997, a lobbying firm with notable access to the new Labour Government.

He had written to controversial Labour donor David Abrahams claiming he was one of Labour's "strongest supporters". In 1998 he was caught on tape along with Derek Draper boasting to Greg Palast, an undercover reporter posing as a businessman, about how they could sell access to government ministers and create tax breaks for their clients in a scandal that was dubbed "Lobbygate". Draper denied the allegations. In the same incident Mendelsohn was approached by an undercover journalist posing as a representative of American energy companies who were seeking to ignore environmental laws. Despite LLM's claim that "we believe that there will be a new breed of 'ethical winners' who will demonstrate that businesses no longer operate in a moral vacuum", Mendelsohn went on to advise the reporter to rephrase their plans into language that sounded "Earth-Friendly" going on to say "Tony [Blair] is very anxious to be seen as green. Everything has to be couched in environmental language - even if it's slightly Orwellian."

He donated money to the Peter Hain Labour Party deputy leadership campaign.

According to the Daily Telegraph, "Mr Mendelsohn is steeped in the north London Jewish community. He is a close friend of Lord Levy, who was at the heart of Labour’s cash for peerages affair."

He is married with four children. His wife, Nicola, was formerly deputy chairman of the advertising agency Grey London, he is also known to be well respected within his community and is generally a very liked man .

References

Category:Living people Category:Labour Party (UK) officials Category:British Jews Category:British lobbyists Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Coordinates	55°45′06″N37°37′04″N
name	Jonathan Coulton
background	solo_singer
birth date	December 01, 1970
origin	Brooklyn, New York City
instrument	Guitar, banjo, ukulele, zendrum, tenori-on
genre	Folk rock, power pop, indie rock
occupation	Singer-songwriter
years active	2003–present
associated acts	Paul and StormKristen ShirtsJohn HodgmanMolly LewisEllen McLainZe FrankRiffTraxThey Might Be Giants
website	http://www.jonathancoulton.com/ }}

Jonathan Coulton (born December 1, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter, known for his songs about geek culture and his use of the Internet to draw fans. Among his most popular songs are "Code Monkey", "Re: Your Brains" and "Still Alive".

A former computer programmer and self-described geek, Coulton tends to write quirky, witty lyrics about science fiction and technology: a man who thinks in simian terms, a mad scientist who falls in love with one of his captives, and the dangers of bacteria. Rare topical songs include 2005's "W's Duty", which sampled President George W. Bush, and 2006's "Tom Cruise Crazy". Most of Coulton's recordings feature his singing over guitar, bass, and drums; some also feature the various other instruments Coulton plays, including accordion, harmonica, mandolin, banjo, ukulele, and glockenspiel.

Coulton graduated in 1993 from Yale, where he was a member of the Yale Whiffenpoofs and the Yale Spizzwinks(?). He is now the Contributing Troubadour at Popular Science magazine, whose September 2005 issue was accompanied by a five-song set by him called Our Bodies, Ourselves, Our Cybernetic Arms. He was also the Musical Director for The Little Gray Book Lectures.

Career

Coulton's best-known works include his light-acoustic cover of the Sir Mix-a-Lot hit song "Baby Got Back" and original pieces such as "Code Monkey", which was featured on Slashdot on April 23, 2006 and linked from the webcomic Penny Arcade. It was the theme song for an animated show on G4 called Code Monkeys.

His work has been featured on NPR's All Things Considered. Good Morning Silicon Valley featured a link to a video set to his song "Re: Your Brains".

Coulton accompanied John Hodgman on his "700 Hobo Names" promotional track for Hodgman's book The Areas of My Expertise as the guitarist (he was credited as "Jonathan William Coulton, the Colchester Kid"). Coulton also can be heard throughout the audiobook version of the same book, playing the theme song to the book, playing incidental music, and bantering with Hodgman, who reads the audio version of his work. Hodgman has also mentioned Coulton on The Daily Show: a Jonathan Coulton of Colchester, Connecticut, was Hodgman's pick to win an essay contest on overpowering Iraqi resistance to American invasion. Coulton wrote and performed "the winning entry", a song about dropping snakes from airplanes. Coulton appeared on the tour for Hodgman's newest book, More Information Than You Require.

Coulton composed the title music for the show Mystery Diagnosis, and also has contributed other songs under "The Little Gray Book Lectures", a series of audio releases from John Hodgman.

In 2006, Coulton began touring with comedy-duo Paul and Storm. They have since toured together almost exclusively, rarely appearing with other artists. At their first few shows, Coulton opened the concerts, but soon after his rise to fame, he was headlining.

Coulton wrote and performed a song titled "Still Alive" for the ending credits of Valve's 2007 video game Portal, with vocals by Ellen McLain. On April 1, 2008, Harmonix made this track available as free downloadable content for the game Rock Band. A version with Coulton's vocals was also included on the Orange Box Original Soundtrack, in addition to the one heard at the end of the game. "Still Alive" has also made an appearance as an easter egg in Left 4 Dead 2. The song has been called "the most influential game music". In 2011, Coulton followed up the success of "Still Alive" with a new song at the end of Portal 2, "Want You Gone".

A DVD & CD of a concert performed February 22, 2008, at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, entitled Best. Concert. Ever. was released in 2009. At the concert, Coulton played the aforementioned song "Still Alive" on its Rock Band version, along with guest "musicians" and geek/celebrities Leo Laporte, Merlin Mann and Veronica Belmont.

Coulton opened for They Might Be Giants for a few shows of their March 2010 tour.

Coulton had been working on his follow-up to the Thing a Week albums, tentatively titled The Aftermath. It has since been stated that the title is merely an umbrella term to classify non-album tracks released after Thing a Week. On May 25, 2010, Coulton said on his official site that he would be working on a new album, to be produced by John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants, and for the first time ever with a full band, including Marty Beller of They Might Be Giants, in a professional recording studio. The resulting album: Artificial Heart, is to be released in September 2011.

In May 2011, Coulton was interviewed on NPR's popular economics-related program Planet Money. He disclosed that he makes about $500,000 a year from his music despite lacking a record label contact. He expressed gratitude towards his fans for his surprise success, the degree of which he called "absurd". In a broader discussion of whether or not the internet is good for musicians, Coulton answered in the affirmative, while journalist Frannie Kelley described him as a "fluke" such as the Snuggie. Coulton posted a tongue-in-cheek response on his blog about the comparison, saying "to which I say: snarkity snark snark!"

Licensing

Coulton releases his songs under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license, allowing others to use them in their own noncommercial works. As a result, a number of music videos have been created using his songs, including such machinima as the ILL Clan's video for "Code Monkey" and a kinetic typography video for the song "Shop Vac".

Thing a Week

From September 16, 2005, to September 30, 2006, Coulton ran "Thing a Week", during which he recorded 52 musical pieces in an effort to push his creative envelope via a "forced-march approach to writing and recording"; to prove to himself that he could produce creative output to a deadline; and to see whether a professional artist could use the Internet and Creative Commons to support himself. Early indications are that the experiment succeeded in generating a large number of high quality songs, boosting sales of music downloads, expanding Coulton's public presence, and enlarging his fan base. The success of the financial objective is more difficult to judge, but Coulton was quoted in a September 2006 interview as stating that "in some parts of the country, I'd be making a decent living". In a February 25, 2008, interview with This Week in Tech, he stated that he made more money in 2007 than he did in his last year of working as a programmer, 40% of it from digital downloads and 40% from merchandise and performances.

Discography

Studio albums

Smoking Monkey (2003)

Where Tradition Meets Tomorrow (2004)

Our Bodies, Ourselves, Our Cybernetic Arms (2005)

Thing a Week One (2006)

Thing a Week Two (2006)

Thing a Week Three (2006)

Thing a Week Four (2006)

Artificial Heart (2011)

Compilations

JoCo Looks Back (2008)

Best. Concert. Ever. (Live album - 2009)

Other releases

Other Experiments (Rarities Collection) (2005)

Unplugged (Live on Second Life) (2006)

The Orange Box Original Soundtrack (2007)

* 1. "Still Alive" (Sung by Ellen McLain)

* 19. "Still Alive" (Sung by Jonathan Coulton)

The Aftermath (2009)

Portal 2 Soundtrack (2011)

* "Want You Gone" (Sung by Ellen McLain)

Most of Coulton's songs are published on his website as MP3 and FLAC downloads. Some of them are free, and none of them are subject to digital rights management. All of his original songs fall under the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 3.0 License. "Still Alive" and "Want You Gone" are the only exceptions to this, as Coulton assigned all rights for the songs to Valve. Along with "Still Alive", Coulton's song "Re: Your Brains" appears in jukeboxes in Left 4 Dead 2, "Want You Gone" also features in the end credits of Portal 2, all of these three games were designed by Valve.

Other versions and covers

Pianist Louis Durra recorded an instrumental trio version of "Code Monkey" released on "Mad World EP" and "Arrogant Doormats" (2011).

References

External links

Sex, Drugs and Updating Your Blog, a profile of Jonathan Coulton in the New York Times Magazine dated May 13, 2007.

Category:1970 births Category:Living people Category:American comedy musicians Category:American singer-songwriters Category:American bloggers Category:Yale University alumni Category:People from Brooklyn

eu:Jonathan Coulton fr:Jonathan Coulton sv:Jonathan Coulton

Coordinates	55°45′06″N37°37′04″N
name	Jonathan Ross
birth name	Jonathan Stephen Ross
birth date	November 17, 1960
birth place	Camden, London, England
nationality	British
occupation	Broadcaster, film critic
years active	1980–present
spouse
children	2 daughters, 1 son
parents	Martha Ross }}

Jonathan Stephen Ross, OBE (born 17 November 1960) is an English television and radio presenter, best known for presenting the BBC One chat show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross from 2001 until he left the BBC in 2010. Ross began hosting a new chat show on ITV1 starting 3 September 2011. Ross also hosted his own radio show on BBC Radio 2, and acted as a film critic and presenter of the Film programme. Other regular roles have included being a regular panellist on the comedy sports quiz They Think It's All Over from 1999 to 2006, and presenting the annual British Comedy Awards from 1991 to 2007, and 2009 onwards.

Ross began his television career as a programme researcher, before débuting as a television presenter for The Last Resort with Jonathan Ross on Channel 4 in 1987. Over the next decade he had several radio and television roles, many through his own production company, Channel X. In 1995 he sold his stake in Channel X, and embarked on a career with the BBC. In 1999, Ross took over presenting the Film programme from Barry Norman, and also began presenting his own radio show, while two years later he began hosting Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. For the chat show, Ross won three British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards for Best Entertainment Performance, in 2004, 2006 and 2007. By 2006 Ross was believed to be the BBC's highest paid star. In 2005, Ross was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to broadcasting. Ross has been involved in controversies throughout his broadcasting career. As a result, in 2008 he wrote a semi-autobiographical work titled Why Do I Say These Things?, detailing some of his life experiences.

Ross has been married to the author, journalist and broadcaster Jane Goldman since 1988; they have three children. Ross and Goldman have together established the television production company Hotsauce TV. Ross is known as an avid fan and collector of comic books and memorabilia, and has written his own comic book, Turf. Ross is known for his distinctive voice, flamboyant style of dress, and his light-hearted banter. He is also known for his characteristic difficulty in pronouncing the sound 'r' (rhotacism).

Early life

Ross was born in Camden, London, England on 17 November 1960, a son of British actress and radio presenter Martha Ross. He grew up in Leytonstone and is the brother of journalist, television editor, and media personality Paul Ross; TV producer/actor Miles Ross; TV producer Simon Ross, and music industry professional Adam Ross. He was educated at Norlington School for Boys, a comprehensive school at the same time as his elder brother Paul, and at Leyton County High School for Boys, a comprehensive school. He also attended Southampton College of Art, now known as Southampton Solent University He then studied Modern European History at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University of London; he was made a Fellow of UCL (into which SSEES was absorbed) in 2006.

Broadcast career

Early career

Ross began his career as a researcher on the Channel 4 show Loose Talk. After leaving this, he worked on various other shows before beginning another research job on Soul Train, which became Solid Soul. It is believed his first appearance on television was as an extra in the 1981 It Ain't Half Hot, Mum episode, The Last Roll Call.

Channel X: 1987–95

Whilst on Solid Soul, he met fellow researcher Alan Marke, and the two devised what would prove to be a breakthrough hit for Ross in 1987, The Last Resort with Jonathan Ross.

The pair based their concept on the successful American show Late Night with David Letterman, and formed a new production company called Channel X, to produce a pilot. Ross was not originally slated as the show's host, but with little time to find one Jonathan Ross stepped in and made his television debut on the show in January 1987.

While the series was initially a co-production with Colin Calendar, ownership transferred to Marke and Ross, meaning that the latter retained a great deal of control as well as being presenter. The show proved popular for both Ross and for Channel 4, making him one of the major personalities on the channel.

A year later, his documentary series The Incredibly Strange Film Show introduced many to the works of cult filmmakers like Sam Raimi and Jackie Chan.

In 1989, he co-presented the biennial BBC charity telethon Comic Relief, the same year he launched One Hour with Jonathan Ross a short lived chat show on Channel 4, most notable for the game show segment "Knock down ginger" which introduced comedians such as Vic Reeves, Bob Mortimer, Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson to television.

In 1991, he presented the annual British Comedy Awards on ITV. He has presented the event each year since, but in 2008 announced he would be stepping down from the role following his suspension from the BBC. In 1992 he presented an interview with Madonna about her Erotica album and Sex Book promotion.

In 1993, he was the narrator for FIA Formula One 1993 Season Review video.

Ross has appeared in numerous television entertainment programmes on several channels throughout the 1990s and 2000s. He was a regular panellist on the sports quiz They Think It's All Over, and hosted the panel game It's Only TV...But I Like It. Other projects include the BBC joke-quiz Gagtag, the Channel 4 variety show Saturday Zoo, new-acts showcase The Big Big Talent Show, and the ITV programme Fantastic Facts.

In 1995 he left Channel X, despite its profitable nature. He was quoted in a 1998 article as stating:

Television 1995–2006

In 1995 he presented Mondo Rosso, a programme about old cult movies. He took over presenting of the Film programme, the BBC's long-running cinema review series, in 1999 after Barry Norman left the show. Ross himself has made a number of cameo appearances in films, playing himself in the Spice Girls' film Spice World (1997) and voicing the character of Doris in the UK version of Shrek 2 (2004). He also played himself in Only Fools and Horses, presenting Goldrush, a fictional television quiz on which the main character, Del, was a contestant. In 2001 he voiced characters in two episodes of the animated comedy series Rex the Runt. In the 30 October episode of Film 2006, Ross also claimed that he had appeared as an extra in the 1981 movie 'The Rise and Fall of Idi Amin', as an Israeli soldier raiding Entebbe airport. He also appeared on the first pilot show for Shooting Stars, acting as a team captain.

BBC Radio: 1999–2010

Ross began presenting a Saturday morning show on BBC Radio 2 in 1999. He has also presented radio shows for BBC Radio 1 and Virgin Radio (having previously worked on Richard Branson's earlier venture, Radio Radio), as well as the now-defunct commercial radio network service The Superstation, where his producer was Chris Evans.

From 23 May 2009, Ross' BBC Radio 2 show was pre-recorded 24 hours before broadcast. This decision was made to make the show more watertight and, according to the press, to make sure any of Ross's off-the-cuff comments might be edited out.

Ross' show on Radio 2 last aired on 17 July 2010 when his contract at the BBC ended.

Friday Night with Jonathan Ross: 2001–10

On 2 November 2001, Ross began presenting his chat show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross.

In 2005, Ross anchored the BBC television coverage of the Live 8 concerts. Later that year he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's Birthday Honours for services to broadcasting. He celebrated the news by playing "God Save the Queen" by The Sex Pistols (which was banned by the BBC when released in 1977) on his BBC Radio 2 Saturday morning show. On 21 June 2006 Ross was made a Fellow of University College London, where he studied.

In early 2006, Ross announced that after eight years he was quitting his regular panellist seat on the sport/comedy quiz show They Think It's All Over, stating:

However, after Ross' departure, only two more episodes of the show were made before it was cancelled.

In January 2006 he presented Jonathan Ross' Asian Invasion, broadcast on BBC Four. The three-part documentary followed Ross as he explored the film industry in Japan, Hong Kong and Korea, interviewing directors and showcasing clips. His interest in Asian culture and his self confessed love for anime and video games led him to making three series of BBC Three show Japanorama, as well as producing another series for the same channel called Adam and Joe Go Tokyo, starring Adam Buxton and Joe Cornish. He produced the latter programme through his own production company Hot Sauce.

In June 2006, a bidding war was sparked between BBC and other broadcasters for Ross' services. Although other broadcasters were unsuccessful in poaching Ross, it is believed that their bids were higher than the BBC during negotiations. ITV, who bid for Ross, poached chat host Michael Parkinson around the same time. Ross became the highest paid television personality in Britain, when a new BBC contract secured his services until 2010, for a reported £18 million (£6 million/year).

On 25 June 2006, he performed at the Children's Party At The Palace for The Queen's 80th birthday. In August 2006, Ross was enlisted to ask the first question since the transition from beta for the Yahoo Answers in UK and Ireland. On 16 March 2007, Ross hosted Comic Relief 2007 alongside Fearne Cotton and Lenny Henry. On 7 July 2007 Ross presented at the Live Earth concert.

Starting on 10 September 2007 he presented the BBC Four series Comics Britannia, about the history of the British comic. This forms the core of a Comics Britannia season, which includes another documentary, In Search of Steve Ditko, by Ross.

In May 2008, Ross won the Sony Gold Award "Music Radio Personality of the Year".

On 3 August 2008, on BBC1, he hosted Jonathan Ross Salutes Dad's Army.

In 2010, Ross took part in Channel 4's Comedy Gala, a benefit show held in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, filmed live at the O2 Arena in London on 30 March.

On 7 April 2010, Ross' first comic book was published. Turf was written by Jonathan himself and drawn by artist Tommy Lee Edwards. In 2011, Ross wrote an introduction for The Steve Ditko Omnibus Vol. 1, a collection of work by the American comics artist featured in Ross' 2007 documentary.

In one of his last appearances on the show Ross was bundled on repeatedly by Gary Lineker, Ross Noble, Damon Albarn, Jamie Hewlett & Tinie Tempah, after a performance of Gorillaz' iconic song "Clint Eastwood" & On Melancholy Hill.

Leaving the BBC (2010)

On 7 January 2010, Ross confirmed that he would leave the BBC in July 2010, having decided not to renegotiate his contract. This would see him leave all his regular BBC roles, namely his Friday night chat show, Radio 2 show and a film review programme, although he would be continuing with some specials, such as Comic Relief and the BAFTA Awards.

Explaining the decision, Ross said:

Although I have had a wonderful time working for the BBC, and am very proud of the shows I have made while there, over the last two weeks I have decided not to re-negotiate when my current contract comes to an end. While there, I have worked with some of the nicest and most talented people in the industry and had the opportunity to interview some of the biggest stars in the world, and am grateful to the BBC for such a marvellous experience. I would like to make it perfectly clear that no negotiations ever took place and that my decision is not financially motivated

The decision came a day after it was announced that Graham Norton had signed a two year deal with the BBC, and the BBC's media correspondent Torin Douglas speculated Norton would be a ready-made replacement for Ross's chat show role, while Mark Kermode of BBC Radio 5 Live was a potential successor in the film review role, but that "replacing Ross on radio will be harder". Ross last appeared on the film programme in Episode 10 of Film 2010 with Jonathan Ross aired on 17 March 2010. After Kermode publicly ruled himself out on 26 March, Claudia Winkleman was announced 30 March 2010 as his replacement as host of The Film programme, who was to host Film 2010 from September 2010.

Ross's final Friday Night chat show episode aired on 16 July 2010, with David Beckham, Jackie Chan, Mickey Rourke, and Roxy Music as guests. Ross ended the show with an affectionate tribute to his guests and to the audience, while mentioning that he had promised his friend Morrissey that he would remain composed and "wouldn't cry". His final Radio 2 show was broadcast the following day. Patrick Kielty initially took over Ross' Radio 2 slot from 24 July 2010 after which Graham Norton took over permanently.

2010 onwards (ITV and Cinemoi)

On 14 December 2010, Jonathan Ross announced his creative partnership with CineMoi, the UK's first and only independent French film channel. His deal with the company gives him a multi-faceted role as presenter, producer, creative director, and shareholder in the company. A life long cinephile Ross has a unique perspective on French film and hopes to encourage 'first-timers' to explore a world of film that differs slightly from that of the regular Hollywood Flair.

On 19 December 2010, Ross presented a three hour Channel 4 list show, 100 Greatest Toys, with the broadcaster describing Ross as a "huge toy enthusiast with a private collection that would rival any museum's."

In 2011, he presented Penn & Teller: Fool Us on ITV, a collaboration with magicians Penn & Teller.

Ross's new chat show The Jonathan Ross Show began on 3 September 2011 on ITV1, drawing an audience of 4.3m viewers, compared to the 4.6m for his finale on the BBC show. The first series will run for thirteen weeks. Speaking about the new show, Ross said: "I am thrilled and excited that after a short break I will be rolling up my sleeves and creating a brand new show for ITV1."

Controversies

BBC contract

In April 2006, Ross, along with other BBC personalities, had details of his fees leaked to the tabloid press. It was claimed at the time, by a then unidentified BBC mole, that Ross earned £530,000 (equivalent to £10,000 per show) per year for hosting his Radio 2 show. While refusing to comment specifically on the leak in line with the BBC policy on the matter, Ross did hint during his radio show that the figure was exaggerated; in addition to this, any pay highlighted as being 'his' would actually be split between himself and his producer/co-presenter on the show, Andy Davies.

David Cameron interview

In June 2006, when Conservative Party leader David Cameron appeared on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, Ross began a line of questioning relating to Conservative ex-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, culminating in the question "Did you or did you not have a wank thinking of Margaret Thatcher?". Ross was defended by the BBC publicly, but repeat showings of the interview have been banned.

Heather Mills comment

In 2006, Ross was criticised when he made a joke against Heather Mills, soon after she and Paul McCartney announced they were to divorce. He branded Mills, who only has one leg, a "fucking liar" and that he "wouldn't be surprised if we found out she's actually got two legs".

"1,000 journalists" comment

On 5 December 2007, Ross joked at the British Comedy Awards that his salary meant that he was "apparently worth 1,000 BBC journalists". His quip came shortly after the BBC had announced plans for more than 2,000 jobs cuts, and was condemned as "obscene" by the general secretary of the National Union of Journalists. Ross has denied this saying that he was commenting on a piece that was written in a newspaper about his salary being that of 1000 journalists:

"You know where that came from? The newspapers. After the fee was announced, they said, 'The BBC says he's worth 1,000 journalists', so on the Comedy Awards I made a joke that began, 'Apparently I'm worth 1,000 journalists according to the newspapers.' Every time it's quoted, is the word 'apparently' ever used? Which does change the meaning somewhat."

The Russell Brand Show and Andrew Sachs

Following a guest appearance by Ross on The Russell Brand Show broadcast on 18 October 2008, Ross was suspended for 12 weeks without pay by the BBC on 29 October, after a series of answer phone messages were left for 79-year-old actor Andrew Sachs regarding Sachs' granddaughter Georgina Baillie, by Russell Brand and Ross, which were broadcast on the pre-recorded show. After little initial interest, a media story about the calls generated a high number of complaints. Brand resigned from the BBC, while Ross was suspended without pay. BBC director general Mark Thompson stated that Ross should take the disciplinary action as a "final warning". The BBC was later fined £150,000 by Britain's broadcast regulator for airing the calls.

On 21 November 2008, the BBC Trust said that the phone calls were a "deplorable intrusion with no editorial justification". The trust gave its backing to Ross's 12 week suspension but recommended that no further action be taken against him. He returned to work in January, and the first episode of a new series of Friday Night With Jonathan Ross with guests Tom Cruise, Stephen Fry and Lee Evans, and music from Franz Ferdinand, was broadcast on 23 January 2009.

Gwyneth Paltrow interview

The BBC Trust ruled that Ross’ interview with Gwyneth Paltrow, broadcast on 2 May 2008, breached editorial guidelines. They ruled that bad language in an episode of Ross's pre-recorded BBC1 chat show, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, in which the presenter told Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow he "would fuck her" was "gratuitous and unnecessarily offensive". The trust said it disagreed with the judgement made by BBC management that the episode should be broadcast uncensored, adding that the comment was made in an "overly sexual way" and that it had upheld a number of complaints made about the edition of Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. The trust reminded BBC staff that "the casual gratuitous use of the most offensive language is not acceptable on the BBC in accordance with the BBC's existing guidelines and practices", adding that "this particularly applies in entertainment programmes".

Hannah Montana comment

On 13 May 2009, Ross was accused of homophobia after a comment he made on his radio show. In which he said,

If your son asks for a Hannah Montana MP3 player, then you might want to already think about putting him down for adoption in later life, when they settle down with their partner.

An incorrect version of this quote was also circulated, in which Ross was accused of saying:

If your son asks for a Hannah Montana MP3 player, you might want to already think about putting him down for adoption before he brings his … erm … partner home.

Ofcom received 61 complaints following the comment. A representative from the BBC defended Ross saying the comment was made "purely in jest" and that "Jonathan is not homophobic in any sense and never meant for his comments to be taken seriously." On 7 July 2009, Ofcom ruled that Ross did not breach the broadcasting code. They wrote in their opinion that "the comment was clearly presented as a joke intended to make light of the reactions that some parents may have if their child chooses a toy that is very widely recognised to be designed and marketed for the opposite sex" and that the nature of the joke and tone and manner in which it was presented "made clear that it was not intended to be hostile or pejorative towards the gay community in general." Stonewall criticised the ruling; saying "the fact that a comment is light-hearted does not absolve it from perpetuating the stereotypes that lead to homophobic bullying."

Video games

Fable III

Year	! Video game	! Role	! Notes
2007	Halo 3	UNSC Marine
2010	|	Barry Hatch

Personal life

Ross married author/journalist/broadcaster Jane Goldman, nine years his junior, in 1988, when Goldman was 18. They have since had three children: Betty Kitten (named after Bettie Page), Harvey Kirby (named after Jack Kirby, a comic book creator whom Ross especially admires), and Honey Kinney. The family lives in Hampstead Garden Suburb.

Ross and others have used his rhotacism for comic effect and he is sometimes known as "Wossy," including on his Twitter feed (@wossy).

Ross is known for owning exotic pets. He is a big music fan and the first band he saw live was punk rockers X-Ray Spex at Islington's Hope And Anchor in north London. He is a big fan of David Bowie, Roxy Music and Bryan Ferry, Queen (he was in the audience for Queen at Wembley), British punk rock, Spandau Ballet, Sparks, Star Trek, Doctor Who (his favourite Doctor was Jon Pertwee), and comic books. Ross has even co-owned a comic shop in London with Paul Gambaccini and released Turf, his first comic book, in 2010, with American artist Tommy Lee Edwards. He was also the visual inspiration for the main character in the comic book Saviour. Ross is also greatly interested in Japan, presenting a BBC-TV series on many different aspects of Japanese culture, Japanorama, for three series between 2002–07. He was a regular at London's Blitz club during the early 1980s (famous for the Blitz Kids). He is a fan and friend of the singers Morrissey and George Michael.

He is a close friend of comedian Ricky Gervais and bought him a kitten after Gervais' previous cat, Colin, had died. The cat's name is Ollie and was presented to him on an episode of Ross' talk show Friday Night With Jonathan Ross. He was one of the special celebrity guests in the final episode of Gervais's second season of Extras, in which Gervais's character, Andy Millman, and Ross were shown to be the best of friends after a fictional appearance on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross.

He is also a friend of author Neil Gaiman, and he and his wife appear in Gaiman's short story "The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch", collected in Fragile Things.

In 2005, Ross was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's Birthday Honours for services to broadcasting. He celebrated the news by playing "God Save the Queen" by The Sex Pistols on his Radio 2 show.

When talking to Colin Farrell on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross on 19 February 2010, Ross claimed not to have consumed alcohol for ten years.

Ross has attended a fund raiser for the James Randi Educational Foundation called The Amazing Meeting in London in 2009 and 2010. Interviewed by Rebecca Watson, Ross described himself as a big fan of James Randi and the other speakers – who were mainly prominent sceptics – and said that he and his wife had come to have a sceptical view of the world. Ross has been supportive of Simon Singh's efforts to defend an accusation of libel by the British Chiropractic Association and Ross has posed for the Geek Calendar 2011, a fund raiser for the libel reform in the UK.

At a book signing event in Central London in September 2010, Ross stated that as a youngster he went to school in Leyton (Leyton Senior High School) and supports Leyton Orient F.C.

On 6 June 2011 it was announced that Ross' beloved Pug Mr Pickle had been killed in an accident on board a train while filming a new travelogue show for ITV. Mr Pickle was well known to both viewers and listeners of Ross' TV and radio shows.

References

Further reading

Jonathan Ross: The Biography, Neil Simpson, John Blake Publishing Ltd (31 July 2007), ISBN 184454432X

Why Do I Say These Things?, Jonathan Ross, Bantam Press (16 October 2008), ISBN 0593060822

External links

The Jonathan Ross Show on itv.com

Interactive video talk by Jonathan Ross on Ealing studios for the British Film Institute

Category:1960 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century actors Category:20th-century writers Category:21st-century actors Category:21st-century writers Category:Alumni of Southampton Solent University Category:Alumni of the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies Category:BAFTA winners (people) Category:English film actors Category:English film critics Category:English radio DJs Category:English television actors Category:English television presenters Category:English television producers Category:English television talk show hosts Category:English television writers Category:English voice actors Category:Friday Night with Jonathan Ross Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire Category:People from Camden Town Category:People from Leytonstone

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