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Blue Plaque for Raymond Chandler’s House Recently, I was lucky enough to represent the College at a college-related event about
a well-known and appreciated Old Alleynian, Raymond Chandler. A Blue Plaque was being unveiled by English Heritage at the house of his uncle, where Chandler lived whilst he studied at Dulwich College. The award was for his contribution to literature with his detective stories. Raymond Chandler began writing in his fifties, after the oil company he was working for went bust. He created what is nowadays known as the ‘hard-boiled’ detective. His central character, Philip Marlowe, always appears laid back, even in dangerous situations. Chandler was at Dulwich only four years after P.G Wodehouse. The headmaster at
Blue Plaque for Raymond Chandler’s Home whilst he attended Dulwich
the time, Arthur Herman Gilkes, was a Classics enthusiast and this influenced Chandler. Philip Marlowe seems to have his own code of chivalry which may well be derived from tales of classical heroes. He never
fights women, or acts in any unpleasant way towards them; whereas with men he will often ignore them or even fight them if he has to. There were speeches from several people including Miss Akrill, an English Teacher, and Dr Spence, The Master. The speeches gave me a much better and deeper understanding of not only Raymond Chandler’s life and the kind of man he was, but his writing too and how his life flowed into his books. It was an interesting
Boys from the Raymond Chandler Library represented the College
and historic event and I felt privileged to have been a part of it. I would definitely recommend books by Raymond Chandler (e.g. Trouble is my Business) for people aged 12 upwards. They are slowly worked up, with moments of excitement, and are a great read. Louis Wilson, 8W
ANSWERS TO SPANISH QUIZ on page: 7 A1
A7 A8
Cataluña.
There are 27 letters in the Spanish alphabet including the ñ
Spain borders five countries which are the UK (Gibraltar), Andorra, Portugal, Morocco and France.
A2 A3 A4 A5 A6
In Spanish Scotland is Escocia. These delicacies are called Churros.
A9 Spanish is mostly originated from Latin and Arabic. A10 Pancakes in Spanish are panqueques although they are also known as crepes and tortitas.
ñ, the 15th letter, has a tilde.
Madrid is the city in the centre of Spain.
A picture of a black bull is often sited on the motorway.
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