Peter Pook

John Anthony Miller (25 April 1918 – 8 September 1978), better known by his pseudonym Peter Pook, was a British author of humorous novels.

Writing between 1960 and 1978, Peter Pook produced a series of twenty-three "autobiographical" novels in which the real events of his life were mingled with fanciful situations, and Pook himself is presented as an amiable dunderhead who is taken advantage of at every turn. After the first book in the series, 'Banking on Form', every subsequent volume has Pook's name in the title: 'Pook in Boots', 'Pook in Business', 'Pook Sahib', etc.

Recurring themes in the books are Pook's obsession with physical culture and sport, his military career in the Royal Marines, overseas travels, his ambition to be an actor and his own writing career. The earlier books are totally light-hearted, though in some of the later works, particularly those depicting the war years, occasional glimpses of grim reality break in.

Ironically, after twenty-three volumes of autobiography, Pook's real name and real life history remained well-kept secrets. Peter Pook died suddenly on 8 September 1978.

Early life

Born John Anthony Miller on 25 April 1918, in Falmouth, Cornwall, he grew up in Southsea, Hampshire and was educated at Portsmouth Grammar School. At various times in his life he was a boxer, footballer, bank clerk, diver, Royal Marine, Indian Navy Lieutenant, antique dealer, schoolmaster, lecturer and author. His first novel, Banking on Form, was published and reprinted by Robert Hale in March, 1962, when he was forty-four, but his sense of humour won him a national literary competition when he was only nine. His pen name was from his mother as she was born a Pook and came from a Portsmouth family which had its origins in Devon.

Writing style

Although he has used his own background to impart authenticity to his novels, his characters are fictitious insofar as they do not reflect any single person in his or her entirety. Often they are a composite of several quite different people, who, once created, develop a personality uniquely their own. Honners is a good example of this.

Peter wrote his own blurbs (i.e. description of the book printed on the inside and the biographical details printed on the back of the jacket).

His wife the author Val Manning wrote that "He also enjoyed a lasting amour with historical London and the literary giants who flourished there. One of those was William Shakespeare who had established himself as a playwright of some esteem in London by the time he was twenty-five and whose works delighted Peter's language palate. Dickens' London and in particular 48 Doughty street where Dickens lived from 1837 – 39, reaped many of his leisure hours and he could quote at random from Dickens' works with fluent ease. It is also an interesting fact that Peter's father was born opposite Dickens' birthplace at Portsmouth. Peter never tired of the old city walks, St Paul's, the churches, the bridges, the inns, the Thames and the quaint streets with names to conjure delicious imageries of a historic populace. He courted them all."

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