Honorary Lecturer in the School, Peter Preston
The School of English Studies is sad to announce the death of Peter Preston on Tuesday 18 October 2011, following a period of illness and his diagnosis with pancreatic cancer in July.
Peter became a member of the Department of Adult Education in 1973, initially working as a Resident Tutor (based in Lincoln) before becoming a Staff Tutor in Literature. He was Acting Head of the School of Continuing Education from 2002 to 2004. After his retirement in 2005, he was made an Honorary Lecturer in the School of English Studies, where he continued to enrich the life of both staff and students through his teaching and his active involvement in research projects and the planning of public events at the University.
Peter was a greatly cherished colleague, and he will be sadly missed by a worldwide community of friends within and outside academia. Peter’s former students will attest to his abilities as a teacher and mentor; junior colleagues will know all about the energy, support and kindness he extended to those in his charge. Many more will remember with gratitude and affection his warmth and hospitality. Although Peter’s literary interests were wide-ranging (he published work on, among others, Dickens, Arnold Bennett and William Morris) he is best known for his pioneering work in the promotion of D. H. Lawrence studies within the University and in the local area. Peter organised his first summer school on Lawrence in 1976. In 1985 he served on the organising committee of the Lawrence Centenary Festival in Eastwood, which culminated in a Lawrence symposium at the University. In 1990 he co-organised the International Lawrence Conference in Montpellier and the following year he founded the D. H. Lawrence Research Centre. He was tireless in his efforts to support the D. H. Lawrence Society in Eastwood; he would at various times edit both the Society’s newsletter and journal. Peter’s modesty meant that many of his achievements went unnoticed. However, the filing cabinets in Trent Room A69 contain much of the correspondence associated with these activities; to read it is to realise the rare combination of sheer hard work, passion and good grace he brought to everything he did, and to his dealings with academics, students and enthusiasts alike. His work in forging links between the University and the wider community is one of several sizeable legacies to come down to us.
Our thoughts go out to Peter’s wife, Barbara, to his children, Rebecca and Ben, and to his grandchildren, Anna, Róisín and Caoimhe.
Dr Andrew Harrison
Lecturer in the School of English Studies
Director of the DH Lawrence Research Centre
Posted on Friday 21st October 2011