Geoffrey Grigson, poet and writer, was born in Cornwall in 1905. After (in his words) “a profitless sojourn” at Oxford University, he worked as literary journalist and critic. His best journalism was collected in The Contrary View (1974) and Blessings, Kicks and Curses (1982), while The Harp of Aeolus (1947) and his book on Samuel Palmer (1947) contains some of his finest writing on art. His trio of poetry anthologies (Before the Romantics, The Romantics and The Victorians) were universally heralded for their careful and original selection. His first book of poetry was Several Observations (1939) and his Collected Poems was published in 1963.

He had four children and was married three times, lastly to Jane McIntire, who, as Jane Grigson, became a celebrated cookery expert. He died in 1985.