J. B. (John Boynton) Priestley

Born in Bradford on September 13, 1894, he left school young and worked in a wool office before serving in the British Army during the First World War. After the war he studied English at Trinity College, Cambridge, and went on to build an unusually wide-ranging career as a novelist, playwright, essayist, screenwriter, broadcaster, and critic.

He first reached a large audience with The Good Companions in 1929, and became one of the best-known British writers of the twentieth century. Readers and audiences often come to him through works such as Angel Pavement, Bright Day, and the play An Inspector Calls, which remains especially admired for its gripping structure and moral force.

Alongside his literary success, he became an influential public voice through essays and wartime radio talks. His writing is often praised for its energy, clarity, and sympathy for everyday people, as well as for the way it joins entertainment with serious ideas about class, responsibility, and time. He died on August 14, 1984.