The inimitable Stephen Fry

Encounters with Writers: 8

The inimitable polymath Stephen Fry.

You may have concluded from the subhead, “Encounters with Writers” that I have actually met Stephen Fry. Well I haven’t—at least not yet—and I say that with regret, though hope springs eternal. But I do feel like I know him, at least a little, after reading his four novels and three memoirs and several of his many and varied nonfiction books, watching his many TV documentaries, movies, and YouTube videos, and even attending his stage show about the Greek Gods, called Mythos, at the Shaw Festival in Niagara on the Lake a few years back. He is quite a guy. On my list of people with whom one day I would love to have dinner, Stephen Fry ranks near the top, now that I’ve been lucky enough to dine with John Irving twice in the last three months!

I’ve written before in this space of my admiration for polymaths, those rare individuals of wide-ranging knowledge and learning. You know, Leonardo da Vinci, Alexander Graham Bell, Benjamin Franklin. Odd as it may sound, I consider Stephen Fry to be a polymath, too—though perhaps not of da Vinci’s stature, a polymath nonetheless. He is a prominent public intellectual in the UK with deep knowledge of many fields. The label most often applied to him is “national treasure.”

He and his first co-conspirator, and still best friend, Hugh Laurie, met at Cambridge and were key players in the famed sketch comedy troupe, The Cambridge Footlights alongside other brilliant artists like Emma Thompson.

The Cambridge Footlights in 1982: Emma Thompson up front with Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry at the back.

After Cambridge, Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie eventually landed their own weekly TV show, A Bit of Fry and Laurie, that they wrote themselves. It aired on BBC1 and BBC2 from 1989-95. They created some classic characters and sketches. This one is among my favourites, with Stephen Fry’s oratorical and rhetorical pyrotechnics on full display.

This sketch is ultimately silly, but is still so packed with funny truths. You can certainly see Fry’s love of language.

Since the end of A Bit of Fry and Laurie, Stephen Fry has appeared in many movies—including his amazing performance as Oscar Wilde in the 1995 film Wilde (trailer)—and TV series, not to mention hosting brilliant documentaries and the hilarious gameshow, QI.

Just four of Stephen Fry’s noteworthy roles on TV, in film, and on stage. (l-r) Jeeves and Wooster (1990-93), Kingdom (2007-09), Wilde (1997), Mythos (2018)

But let’s get to his books

Despite how successful Stephen Fry has been in the world of entertainment, I think I love his novels and memoirs most of all. I began reading Fry many years ago, long before I wrote my first novel, or even thought I might one day. I started with his debut novel, The Liar published in 1991, loved it, and quickly tore through his other novels, including The Hippopotamus (1994), Making History (1996), The Stars’ Tennis Balls (2000) eventually renamed Revenge.

My first editions of Stephen Fry’s novels.

I thoroughly enjoyed his novels, particularly his first three. Very funny. Very thoughtful, and very well-written. You might assume, given his comic antics on television, that his novels would not feature an abundance of literary merit. I actually think they are quite beautifully written. Who knew this hilarious star of stage and screen was also such a great writer? But it was not just novels that he wrote. He also published three volumes of memoir. He’s led an interesting and sometimes very difficult life that his memoirs capture in funny, self-effacing prose. A brilliant storyteller, they are filled with humour without an iota of self-reverence or self-pity. He is humble and modest, and unfailingly honest when writing about the challenges he’s faced in his life including cocaine addiction and mental illness.

Stephen Fry’s three memoirs.

He’s also written many other non-fiction books, including a book about poetry cleverly entitled, The Ode Less Travelled.

Just three of Stephen Fry’s nonfiction offerings.

I highly recommend his novels and memoirs. They are interesting, funny, and always well-written. Stephen Fry has a reverence for the English language that shines through his prose. One day, I’d love to meet him.

To close—and I mean no offence to those readers whose faith is important in their lives—here’s Stephen Fry in a famous exchange about the existence of God with Irish talk show host Gay Byrne. Whatever you may believe, this showcases Fry’s eloquence and powerful use of language to present his argument.

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A final note:

Oh yes, I nearly forgot. Here’s the new logo or word mark for my Substack newsletter. My dream team of experienced graphic designers worked on it for days. Okay, that’s a lie. I just constructed this simple logo yesterday in PowerPoint. It took me about 15 minutes. (Update: My brother, Tim, brought my original PowerPoint graphic into PhotoShop and added that nice bevel effect that really makes it look like a three dimensional antique typewriter key. I think it looks great.) I quite like it for its simplicity and its nod to typewriters, obviously an important tool and classic symbol of the writerly trade. Let me know what you think of it… particularly if you like it (ha!).

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