A. R. (Alfred Richard) Orage

Born in Yorkshire in 1873, Alfred Richard Orage began his working life as a schoolteacher in Leeds. Alongside teaching, he developed wide interests in philosophy, socialism, and theosophy, and he helped found the Leeds Arts Club, which became an important meeting place for new artistic and political ideas.

Orage is most remembered for editing The New Age, the influential weekly review he took over in 1907. Under his direction, the magazine became a lively forum for modern literature, social criticism, and political debate, and it played a notable part in the intellectual life of prewar Britain.

Later in life, his interests turned more strongly toward spiritual thought, especially the teachings associated with G. I. Gurdjieff. He continued to write and lecture until his death in London in 1934, leaving behind a reputation as an editor and thinker who connected literature, politics, and inner life in an unusual way.