"Richard De'Ath" ?

[dem]

Richard De'Ath is the pseudonym of a bestselling novelist, writer of popular works of non-fiction and editor of numerous anthologies. His previous collections of humour include Laws And Disorders (1999), French Letters And English Overcoats (2000) and Pull The Other One, all published by Robson Books. From Recipes For Disaster (Robson, 2001)

Perhaps inspired by the success of Fritz Spiegl's A Small Book of Grave Humour and Dead Funny (Pan 1971 & 1982 respectively), a certain 'Richard De'Ath' muscled in on the amusing epitaph action with four theme titles, some (all?) introduced by Spike Milligan. Mr. De'Ath then disappeared off radar for the best part of a decade until a contact with Robson and, in quick succession, a second volley of rib-ticklers. Admittedly they're probably not most horror fans' idea of 'must have', but if it's true that they are the work of Peter Haining under yet another of his pseudonyms, then the 'De'Ath' books at least warrant a mention on here in the hope that someone can confirm the author's identity.

• Tombstone Humour (Unwin, 1983)
  
• Last Will and Testament (Unwin, 1984)
  
• Died Laughing or, One last goodbye! (Orion, 1985, 2001)
  
• Grave Moments, or Dead But Hardly Buried (HarperCollins, 1986)
  
• The Best Of Tombstone Humour (Cassell, 1987) Foreword: Spike Milligan
  
  
• Tombstone Humour (Bounty, 1993) Introduction: Spike Milligan "This anthology contains four books dealing with graveyard humour. "Tombstone Humour" contains unusual epitaphs, "Last Will and Testament" has odd bequests, "Died Laughing" contains last laughs from around the world while "Grave Moments" look at events to do with death and burial."
  
  
• Sod's Law: A Book of Bizarre and Unusual Laws (Robson, 1998)
  
• Laws And Disorders : A Guide To Real But Bizarre Laws From Over The Centuries (Robson, 1999)
  
• French Letters And English Overcoats: Sexual Fallacies and Fads from Ancient Greece to the Millennium (Robson, 2000)
  
• Pull The Other One: An Incredible Collection of Apologies, Justifications and Cover-ups (Robson, 2000)
  
• Recipes for Disaster: A Deliciously Funny Feast of Culinary Catastrophes (Robson, 2001)
  
• Slip Of The Pen: The Writers' Book Of Blunders (Robson, 2004)

Richard De'Ath - French Letters and English Overcoats: Sexual Fallacies and Fads from Ancient Greece to the Millennium (Robson , 2000)

....by the author of Grave Moments & Laws and Disorders.

Hornbooks of the Appetites: An introduction
Women are Men Turned Outside In
thingy Pride and Vestal Virgins
The Art of Bed Wrestling
Fertility Rites - and Wrongs
The Practice of Penile Jogging
Love Locked In
French Letters and English Overcoats
Sex in Space

Blurb:

Illustrated throughout with amusing cartoons and line drawings, French Letters and English Overcoats is an informative and often hilarious book which bears witness to centuries of attempts to understand and perfect the art of sex.

Recipes for Disaster: A Deliciously Funny Feast of Culinary Catastrophes (Robson, 2001)

Menu

Eat, Drink And Be Wary
Half-Baked Ideas
Medium Rare
Feud For Thought
Pick And Chews
Around The World In Sixty Menus
Pounds Of Flesh
Just Desserts
Thinner Sanctum
Cooking Will Be The Death Of Me

Blurb

With the advent of celebrity chefs and bestselling cookbooks, there has never been a time when cookery has played such a large part in so many people's lives. Never has it been more appropriate to publish Recipes for Disaster. This collection uncovers catering calamities from all over the world; including amusing misprints in advice columns and recipes, true stories of restaurants resembling Fawlty Towers, hilarious advertising campaigns, unfortunate food-related incidents and bizarre regional specialities. For eggsample, in the sixties, readers of the Observer were encouraged to: 'Buy really good eggs, preferably from hens that you know, one per person.' Or consider the waiter who dealt with a complaint by simply popping the offending article into his mouth and exclaiming 'This is not a cockroach, it is a delicious onion'.

[Steve]

Feb 28, 2009 16:06:54 GMT dem said:

if it's true that they are the work of Peter Haining under yet another of his pseudonyms, then the 'De'Ath' books at least warrant a mention on here in the hope that someone can confirm the author's identity.

Richard De'ath was Peter Haining, Dem. Lest there were any real doubt as to true identity of this particular "bestselling novelist, writer of popular works of non-fiction and editor of numerous anthologies".

Haining's A Slip Of the Pen: The Writers' Book of Blunders, also from Robson, has an 'About the Author' informing us that;
"Former reporter and editor Peter Haining is the author of The Jail That Went to Sea and The Mystery of Rommel's Gold. Under the nom de plume of Richard De'ath, he has written 10 bestselling anthologies."

And The International Who's Who of Authors and Writers 2004 lists the following pseudonyms for Mr Haining;

Peter Alex
Jim Black
Richard De'ath
William Patrick
Richard Peters
Richard Peyton
Sean Richards

Plus, of course, who knows how many other variants of the above; e.g., Alex Peters (who, I imagine, is the "bestselling novelist" referred to in the description above?).

[dem]

Thanks for clearing that up, Steve. And Peter Alex, Alex Peters, Jim Black and Richard Peters are all new ones on me! It would have been brilliant if he'd adopted a really ropey disguise for each pseudonym and posed for an 'About the author' photo on the jacket.

[Steve]

Feb 28, 2009 18:31:35 GMT dem said:

Peter Alex, Alex Peters, Jim Black and Richard Peters are all new ones on me!

Yeah, me too most of 'em. Don't know about Richard Peters or Peter Alex, but Alex Peters was the name used for the novels Doomsday Island and The Savage (which, along with The Hero, also appeared at one point under Haining's own name).

A quick dig suggests that Jim Black was used for one of Haining's Elvis books.

[helrunar]

Another fascinating thread. Apparently quite a few professional writers over the years used multiple noms de plume (de ma tante).  If they hit it big, the books could then be reissued as "Peter Haining writing as Richard Peyton." (exempli gratia)

cheers, H.