Life’s Lines

A grand compendium of poetry.
Tony Mitchell was born in Bexley, Kent, in 1934. After surviving the war and evacuation, he was educated at Shooters Hill Grammar School in Woolwich, one of the first Butler Boys. He wrote his first poem, lamenting a girl who had rejected him, just before National Service as a sergeant in the Canal Zone, Egypt.
He qualified as a teacher at Goldsmiths College, London and then took an external Honours degree in English in London, a Master’s degree in the teaching of English at Exeter and another Master’s in TV and Film Studies in Education at the London Institute of Education. He taught in grammar, secondary modern and comprehensive schools before moving in to Higher Education, training teachers and lecturing in English, Film and TV in Bedford. He retired in 1987 and now lives between Bath and Bristol.
Married to Hazel in 1960, they had 3 children, Duncan, Clare and Fay. Fay was lost in an accident in 1994. They now have 5 grandchildren.
Tony served as a Bedfordshire County Councillor from 1989 to 2005, for Labour. He is an active Republican and a humanist. He was a competent club cricketer and has supported the Canaries since 1945.