Examine individual changes

'{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}} {{Use British English|date=December 2015}} {{Primary sources|date=September 2007}} {{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] --> | name = William Graham Stanton | image = William Stanton - Author.jpg | imagesize = | caption = | pseudonym = | birth_date = {{birth date|1917|8|18|df=y}}<ref name="made"/> | birth_place = [[Shiregreen and Brightside#Brightside|Brightside]], [[Sheffield]] | death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1999|12|6|1917|8|18}} | death_place = [[York]], [[North Yorkshire]] | occupation = Radio playwright | nationality = British | period = | genre = | subject = | movement = | spouse = Dorothy Stanton<ref name="myvillage">{{cite web |url=http://www.myvillage.com/sheffield/celebs&gossip-bill_stanton.htm |title= Bill Stanton |publisher= Myvillage.com |accessdate=2007-10-07 |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20080205083402/http://www.myvillage.com/sheffield/celebs&gossip-bill_stanton.htm <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archivedate = 2008-02-05}}</ref> | partner = | children = | relatives = | influences = | influenced = | signature = | website = {{URL|http://www.billstanton.co.uk/}} }} '''William Graham Stanton''' (18 August 1917 – 6 December 1999) was a [[UK|British]] author and radio playwright. __TOC__ == Early life == William Graham Stanton was born in [[Shiregreen and Brightside#Brightside|Brightside]], [[Sheffield]], the seventh of eight children of John Stanton (a [[blacksmith]]) and his wife.<ref name="made">{{cite web | author = | title = Bill Stanton, Sheffield Author | publisher = Made in Sheffield Dot Com | url = http://www.made-in-sheffield.com/people/billstanton.htm | date = | accessdate = 2007-09-30 |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070807085320/http://www.made-in-sheffield.com/people/billstanton.htm <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archivedate = 2007-08-07}}</ref> His upbringing was in a working class [[Methodist]] tradition. His later writings about his experiences as a child described an upbringing rich in love, event and interest. Stanton's brothers, George and Arthur, were sent to [[Sheffield University]]. The [[Great Depression|depression]] of the 1930s denied Stanton's family the means to help him through university, and instead Stanton had to settle for sponsorship from the Sheffield Education Committee to train to be a teacher. Shortly after he qualified in 1939, war was declared and Stanton volunteered for the [[British Army|Army]]. During the war, he met and married Dorothy Walton from [[Millhouses]],<ref name="myvillage"/> and after the war they ran a private school together. Starting in 1954, he worked for the [[Vickers]]-owned English Steel Corporation as a sales representative. When he retired in 1980, it was as Area Marketing Manager for [[British Steel Corporation]] in [[Leeds]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.suttonelms.org.uk/bstanton.html |title= Bill Stanton radio drama, radio plays |publisher= Diversity Website |accessdate=2007-10-07}}</ref> Throughout his life, Stanton wrote both prose and verse, most of which was unpublished. == Writing career == In 1961, Stanton had a short story, ''It was never Albert'', published by [[BBC Radio]] on their Morning Story series.<ref name="made"/> It was the first of a series of twenty-one stories presented by the BBC throughout the sixties and early seventies. In 1969 he had his first radio play success. ''The Compost Heap'',<ref>{{cite web | author = | title = Bill Stanton Radio Plays | publisher = Diversity Website | url = http://www.suttonelms.org.uk/bstanton.html | date = | accessdate = 2007-09-30 }}</ref> a play about an old man who had become a burden to his family, was the first of a prodigious output of radio plays. The [[BBC]] produced and broadcast ten of Stanton's plays in 1971, more than any other author for that year.<ref name="myvillage"/> Stanton was delighted that they got [[Wilfred Pickles]] to play the principal character Albert Smith. He met Wilfred and they became firm friends.<ref>{{cite web | author = Steve Lloyd | title = Wilf Pickles talks his life on to tape | publisher = The Sheffield Star | url = http://www.thestar.co.uk/ | date = 29 November 1976 | accessdate = 2011-04-20 }}</ref> A young [[Tony Robinson]] also appeared in the play as the son-in-law Charlie. Other plays were critically acclaimed. ''Milgrip's Progress'' was reviewed in the Listener,<ref>{{cite web | author = | title = The Listener | publisher = British Broadcasting Corporation | url = | date = 13 November 1969 }}</ref> and by Gillian Reynolds in the Guardian.<ref>{{cite web | author = Gillian Reynolds | title = Arts Guardian | publisher = Guardian Newspapers | url = https://www.theguardian.com/ | date = 8 November 1969 | accessdate = 2011-04-20 }}</ref> ''Twelve Tuesdays to Christmas'' was reviewed in the Listener.<ref>{{cite web | author = | title = The Listener | publisher = British Broadcasting Corporation | url = | date = 13 January 1972 }}</ref> In 1977, Stanton's first book ''Treason For My Daily Bread''<ref>{{cite web | author = W G Stanton | title = Treason For My Daily Bread | publisher = Vallancey Press (F.H.Books Limited), Guernsey, British Isles | isbn=978-0-905589-00-8 | url = http://www.billstanton.co.uk/novels/treason.htm | year = 1977 | accessdate = 2007-10-02}}</ref> was published. This was a fictional work around the assassination of [[John F. Kennedy]] based on a manuscript which was supposed to be written by a fictional character, Mikhail Mikhailovich Lebedev.{{citation needed|date=August 2017}} Stanton also wrote two unpublished books, ''Fallout in Arden''<ref>{{cite web | author =W G Stanton | title = Fallout In Arden | publisher = unpublished | url = http://www.billstanton.co.uk/novels/fallout.htm | year = 1995 | accessdate = 2007-10-15}}</ref> and ''Moss'',<ref>{{cite web | author = W G Stanton | title = Moss | publisher = unpublished | url = http://www.billstanton.co.uk/novels/moss.htm | year = 1995}}</ref> a semiautobiographical work. Moss was postumously published by Writers Tutorial Publications in 2024.<ref>{{cite web | author = W G Stanton | title = Moss | publisher = Writers Tutorial Publications | isbn=978-1-7385652-5-2 | url = https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1738565254 | year = 2024}}</ref> == Teaching and lecturing == After his successes, Stanton was invited to lecture at weekend courses for aspiring writers. As a teacher, Stanton wanted to inspire rather than instruct. He placed a great emphasis on doing rather than talking. He arranged "workshops" rather than "courses," and out of this came a number of projects. One was the "Workshop 74" at [[St Mary's College, Durham|St. Mary's College]], [[Durham, England|Durham]], and another was the "Writer's Tutorial." He compiled much of his thinking on writing in a writers manual, published privately by Writers Tutorial, ''Write Through Rewrite''. This was later revised and published as "Making Things Clear."<ref>{{cite book | author =W G Stanton | title = Making Things Clear | publisher = The Parthenon Publishing Group Limited | isbn=1-85070-205-5 | url = http://worldcat.org/isbn/1850702055 | year = 1989 | accessdate = 2007-10-02}}</ref> ==Later life and death== In 1992, Stanton enrolled at the [[University of York]] to read English and American Literature. This gave him the opportunity to study Shakespeare properly. While at York he translated the [[Middle English]] poem [[Pearl (poem)|Pearl]]<ref>{{cite web | author =W G Stanton | title = A Translation In Verse of The Middle English Poem Pearl | url = http://www.alliteration.net/Pearlman.html | year = 1995 | accessdate = 2007-10-02}}</ref> for his long assignment. When he graduated in June 1996 with a [[British undergraduate degree classification#Upper Second Class Honours|two one]] at the age of 79, he was [[University of York]]'s oldest graduate ever. Stanton fell ill on 6 December 1999, and was taken to York District Hospital, where he died. ==References== {{reflist}} == External links == * [http://www.billstanton.co.uk Official site] {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Stanton, William Graham}} [[Category:1917 births]] [[Category:1999 deaths]] [[Category:Alumni of the University of York]] [[Category:20th-century English dramatists and playwrights]] [[Category:English male dramatists and playwrights]] [[Category:20th-century English male writers]]'