Jan Morris
Acclaimed travel writer and historian, long resident in Llanystumdwy.
- Born:
-
2
OCT
1926
- Place of Birth:
- Clevedon, Somerset
"The best way to find out about a place is wander around. Wander around, alone, with all your antennae out thinking about what's happening and what you see and what you feel."
Jan Morris
- Trivia:
- Jan Morris has three sons and a daughter. Twm is a writer, a poet and a musician with Bob Delyn a'r Ebillion; Mark is a writer, broadcaster and award-winning librettist, living in Canada; Henry is a musician, now living in Spain; Suki lives in Wales with her family.
- Biography:
-
Jan Morris is the author of over 30 books, most famously about her travel experiences in Venice, Oxford, Trieste, New York and beyond.
Jan Morris was born a boy, and spent the first 46 years of her life as James Morris, until she had a sex change operation in Casablanca in 1972. James Morris was introduced to a life of travel whilst serving in the army from the age of 17. At 23 he returned to study English at Oxford, before working as the foreign correspondent on The Times and later The Guardian, based in the Middle East. His first major assignment was covering the successful ascent of Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay in the 1953 British-led expedition. His first book, Coast to Coast, was written whilst on a scholarship in America and was a great success. James married Elizabeth in 1949, and had five children together. Though divorced, they remained together and have now re-married in a civil partnership ceremony. Jan Morris feels that her most "important work" was the Pax Britannica trilogy about the decline of the British Empire, though she is most famous for writing about cities and places she has visited. Jan Morris has lived for many years at Trefan Morys, a converted stable block in the grounds of her family's former home in Llanystumdwy. She has taken a great interest in Welsh culture, becoming a member of the Eisteddfod bardic Orsedd. Books by James Morris include:
your comments
inda Larkin Adams from NZ
I love Jan Morris's writing.It's always such a treat- thoughtful and quirky..She seems quite a peaceful person for an anarchist.I've been trying to find her book called "Destinations" but it's not in our local library or included in the list of her books given above..Lovely to see Jan at Sir Ed's funeral this year wearing a cheerful dress that seemed covered in sweet peas and with her white fluffy hair she looked pretty for someone in her 80's!.I was hoping we'd see a long interview with her on TV or radio but no such luck. Thanks, Jan, for all the pleasurable reads you've giv! en us..
Mon Mar 3 13:19:28 2008
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