Coke, Desmond

Desmond Francis Talbot Coke (1879-1931) was a writer of stories for boys who was educated at Shrewsbury School and University College, Oxford. War injuries meant that he was invalided out of active service in 1917 and at the invitation of Lex Devine, the founder of Clayesmore School, joined the staff at his school, which was, by then, located in Iwerne Minster House, Dorset. Among his pupils at the school was Edward Ardizzone (1900-1979), destined to become a well-known book illustrator, who eagerly sought his teacher's opinions on art and the approval of his early work. Desmond Coke wrote und...