Biography 03 – Patrick White Catalogue

BIOGRAPHY:

War

(1939 – 1946)

Grace Cossington-Smith, Signing (1945)

“Wanting to meet an author because you like his work is like wanting to meet a duck because you like paté.”
Margaret Atwood

When World War II broke out White was in the USA, where he had secured Viking as his American publishers, via the perspicacious eye of editor Ben Huebsch, already a legendary editor, and a man who would ensure White’s American success. Reinvigorated by the American landscape and triumphant reviews (not to mention two separate love affairs) White determined to enlist in the armed forces. Returning to the UK, during the period of the ‘Phoney War’, in which so much was uncertain, he worked on his second novel, The Living and the Dead. It is a lonely work set in contemporary London, and its main character – Elyot Standish – is clearly a stand-in for the author himself, up to and including his sexuality, although this last fact is obscured to all but the insightful reader. Viking quickly accepted the novel for American publication but – as was to be the case for years to come – the author had more trouble convincing British editors, finally succeeding with Routledge & Sons.

Having successfully enlisted with the Royal Air Force, White shipped out at the end of 1940 to the Middle East, where he would serve in Egypt, Palestine, Sudan, and Greece. Here, White’s skill with the pen saw him routinely writing reports and dispatches, and becoming a respected member of the RAF. White came to feel great affection for the people and customs of the Levant, especially the Greeks. Greek life and culture, and the lives of those displaced in the aftermath of the Greco-Turkish War of 1919-22, would feature prominently in his later short stories. When a casual boyfriend gave a party in Alexandria, White could little have predicted its outcome: he was introduced to a young Greek military officer from a downwardly-mobile noble family, Emmanuel George “Manoly” Lascaris. The two became friends that day, and that friendship quickly blossomed into love. Often in different countries throughout the remainder of the War, Patrick and Manoly wrote copious letters, and it was clear that this relationship would define their respective futures.

When the War at last ended, White considered remaining in Greece. Ever the wanderer, still the changeling, he felt no sense of purpose in London even though he considered it his spiritual home, but saw little to be gained from returning permanently to Australia. Yet it soon became clear that remaining in Greece was simply not viable. First, things were bound to be politically and socially uneven in the country for some time. Second, the Lascaris money was all but non-existent, whereas White had networks in the Anglo countries which he could profit from. And third, quite importantly, there was little hope for Patrick and Manoly to live together as a gay couple in Greece, especially not in proximity to Manoly’s family and society. Perhaps to his own surprise, White found himself arranging passage back to Australia. Followed first by his beloved German schnauzers, and then by Lascaris, Patrick White at last made his return to the country of his youth.

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