The Slowcoach

Edward Verrall Lucas (1868-1938) was a versatile and popular English writer of nearly 100 books. His style has great facility, and is generally found insipid by contemporary readers; some of his cricket writing has lasted. He is now remembered for his essays and books about London and travel, appearing in many editions, and his biography of Charles Lamb. He was educated at Friends Public School in Saffron Walden. He worked first in a Brighton bookshop and then on a Sussex newspaper. He was responsible for A. A. Milne teaming up with E. H. Shepard for the Winnie-the- Pooh books. He wrote under pen names EVL, VVV, E. D. Ward, and FF for film criticism. Some of his early work was in collaboration with Charles Larcom Graves, another Punch writer. Amongst his other works are Highways and Byways in Sussex (1904), The Friendly Town (1905), A Wanderer in Holland (1905), AWanderer in Florence (1912), AWanderer In Venice (1914), A Boswell of Baghdad (1917) and A Wanderer Among Pictures (1924).