Anthony Powell Trivia

Welcome to a page of trivia, curiosities and the inconsequential associated with AP; items that don't make it to the more serious AP pages but which are nonetheless worth preserving. The items below appear in no particular order, so it is a real lucky dip. Many of the items are quoted verbatim from our correspondence.

We will be delighted to receive items for possible inclusion on this page. Please send all AP trivia to enquiries@anthonypowell.org.

The current New Yorker [13 September 1999] contains a piece by Betty Fussell that has an interesting, albeit brief, mention of cruising with AP and Lady Violet. Might have a bit of relevance to The Fisher King. AP is described as having "such exquisite manners that he would ask the ladies before eating an apple 'Do you mind if I bite?'". [Contributed by William Stone; 09/1999]

"Poussin, Nicholas and Powell, Anthony are consecutive entries in Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia, 4th ed ... neither entry makes mention of the Powell/Poussin connection." [Contributed by Kevin Frank; 03/2000]

"I have corresponded with Powell off and on, although not recently, and you may enjoy this story (which I think is in one of his volumes of autobiography). When I first wrote Powell a fan letter, he asked if I were related to Jim Henle who was his first American publisher. Well, Jim Henle was my grandfather -- a nice Powellian coincidence, but the story gets better. My grandfather, who owned Vanguard Press for some years, would sometimes take a fancy to a book, usually because he liked a character, and publish it without any expectation of making much money. The novel of Powell's that attracted his attention was From a View to a Death, and the character was, naturally, Zouch. As you are probably aware, the publisher controls everything on a book's cover including the title. Thus my grandfather could choose a new title for the book in America. He chose the title: Mr. Zouch, Superman, about as un-Powellian a title as can be imagined! None of this I knew except from Powell's correspondence." [Contributed by Michael Henle; 07/1998]

"On this business of the planning and writing of Dance I should think that Powell had an overall idea of its structure and allowed for many contingencies ... I wonder if any of you know the British television programme Anthony Powell: An Invitation to the Dance which was broadcast (in the 1980s?) as part of the series Arena. I have it on video and it's very interesting as Powell himself is interviewed as well as his wife, and Kingsley Amis, Alison Lurie and Hilary Spurling ... I'm pretty sure that Powell confirms this very loose plan for writing Dance ... In the TV programme Powell says, I think, that he had an idea from the beginning that the image of Widmerpool running would somehow be repeated at the end, but no more than this. He points out that a lot of the things that seem 'planned' were in fact the result of changed circumstances or chance events that he was able to incorporate as he wrote." [Contributed by John Potter; 01/1999]

"AP's name was mentioned in the Hollywood film You've Got Mail, starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. The town where I live in Japan has no cinema. However, the next town does and You've Got Mail is currently showing there. A couple of weeks ago curiosity overcame me and so my wife and I drove over there to do our own bit of Powell research. Unfortunately, we arrived there to discover that we had chosen the one day of the year when the cinema is closed. Undaunted we returned last week and can finally confirm that AP's name is indeed uttered. What surprised me though, was the pronounciation not of his surname but of his first name. I have always thought that the 'th' in Anthony should be pronounced as a 't' but the character in the film pronounces it as in the word 'thought'." [Contributed by John Potter; 03/1999]

"The current (02/1999) President of Honduras (took office 1998) is named Carlos Flores. Talk about coincidences! Or maybe AP was just clairvoyant!" [Contributed by Nick Birns; 02/1999]

"While reading Humphrey Carpenter's biography of the dramatist Dennis Potter recently, I came across an unexpected reference to Anthony Powell. I'd forgotten that at one time, back in the 70s, Potter had been involved briefly in an attempt to bring Dance to the television screen. His biographer mentions a trip Potter took, along with two colleagues, to meet AP in Frome. One of them was car-sick on the journey down there, and they eventually had 'a rather tense meeting with Powell'. The plan was for 12 ninety minute episodes, but it seems that Potter eventually backed out, much to AP's annoyance. "The surprising thing is surely that the left-wing Potter should have been commissioned by the BBC in the first place, as his Pennies From Heaven had just been shown and he was gaining a reputation in his plays for the innovative use of popular song, as well as explicit sex." [Contributed by John Potter; 02/1999]

AP and Lady Violet Pakenham were married on 01 December 1934 in All Saints Church, Ennismore Gardens, London SW7. In the early 1970s this church was decommisioned by the Church of England and became the Russian Orthodox Cathedral for London. Unfortunately it is open only for services, however they have an information line on +44 (0)20 7584 0096. [Contributed by Keith & Noreen Marshall; 01/2000]

There is a small pamphlet Likes and Dislikes which contains entries from the visitors book of George and Beryl Simms. Only 100 copies were printed, apparently for private circulation among their friends. The book includes the following entries: Anthony Powell, 12 June 1958 Likes Cats Oysters Burgundy Petronius Poussin Dislikes Insomnia Political discussions Business Luncheons Van Gogh Thoreau Lady Violet Powell, 12 June 1958 Likes China (preferably Worcester) Wearing new clothes Picking wild daffodils Reading about French literature Italy Dislikes Flimsy writing paper and envelopes Sauces which taste of flour Snow Rubber sponges Early luncheons (in England) [Contributed by Ian Young; 03/1999]