INTRODUCTION Jerome K. Jerome (1859-1927) best known for his comic masterpiece Three Men in a Boat. (1889).

Jerome Klapka Jerome was born 2 May 1859 in Belsize House, Bradford Street, Walsall, Staffordshire, in the heart of England. He was the fourth child of Jerome Clapp Jerome, (18071872) a well-respected nonconformist lay preacher and architect who died when Jerome was fourteen. Jerome's mother was Marguerite Jones, (d. 1872) daughter of a solicitor. Jerome's middle name was in honor of a family friend, Hungarian exile and hero George Klapka. Jerome had two sisters, Paulina Deodata and Blandina Dominica, and a brother Milton Melanchthon. Jerome's childhood was very difficult as his parents were falling into financial ruin and it left its mark on him. His father had a streak of bad luck with an unsuccessful attempt at mining speculation, then in investment of an ironmongers and then coal mining. Early on Jerome wanted to become a Member of Parliament, but that was not to be. He attended the Philological School, later known as the Marylebone Grammar School. In 1872 his mother died and he was on his own. He started work at the London and North Western Railway. He had a number of occupations then including journalism and school teaching, and a number of disappointments with the rejections of many short stories and satires he wrote. His experience as an actor led to his novel On the Stageand off (1885) and his play Barbara. (1886) In true Jerome style he dedicated his collection of essays The Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow (1886) to his pipe: "To the friend who, treated with marked coolness by all the female members of my household, and regarded with suspicion by my very dog, nevertheless seems day by day to be more drawn by me, and in return to more and more impregnate me with the odor of his friendship."On 21 June 1888 Jerome married divorce Georgina Elizabeth Henrietta Stanley Morris, "Ettie" (18591938) who had a daughter from her previous marriage, his beloved "Elsie" who would die in 1921. Jerome and Georgina's daughter Rowena was born in 1898. Despite his straitened circumstances he kept his sardonic humor and wrote his slapstick tale of a riverboat trip up the Thames, Three Men in a Boat, (1889) subtitle to say nothing of the dog. The story was inspired by his honeymoon and based on himself and two real-life friends, George Wingrave, whom he'd met while a clerk and Carl Hentschel whom he'd met through the theatre. EARLY LIFE OF JKJ. Jerome was the fourth child of Jerome Clapp (who later renamed himself Jerome Clapp Jerome), an ironmonger and lay preacher who dabbled in architecture, and Marguerite Jones. He had two sisters, Paulina and Blandina, and one brother, Milton, who died at an early age. Jerome was registered, like his father's amended name, as Jerome Clapp Jerome, and the Klapka appears to be a later variation (after the exiled Hungarian general Gyrgy Klapka). Owing to bad investments in the local mining industry, the family suffered poverty, and debt collectors often visited, an experience Jerome described vividly in his autobiography My Life and Times (1926).[1] The young Jerome wished to go into politics or be a man of letters, but the death of his father at age 13, and his mother at age 15, forced him to quit his studies and find work to support himself. He was employed at the London and North Western Railway, initially collecting coal that fell along the railway, and remained there for four years. INITIAL CAREER OF JKJ. In 1877, inspired by his older sister Bandannas love for the theatre, Jerome decided to try his hand at acting, under the stage name Harold Crichton. He joined a repertory troupe that produced plays on a shoestring budget, often drawing on the actors' own meager resources Jerome was penniless at the time to purchase costumes and props. After three years on the road and with no evident success, the 21-year-old Jerome decided he had had enough with stage life, and sought other occupations. He tried to

become a journalist, writing essays, satires and short stories, but most of these were rejected. Over the next few years he was a school teacher, a packer, and a solicitor's clerk. Finally, in 1885, he had some success with On the Stage and Off, a comic memoir of his experiences with the acting troupe. Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow, a collection of humorous essays, followed in 1886 (see 1885 and 1886 in literature). On 21 June 1888, Jerome married Georgina Elizabeth Henrietta Stanley Marris (a.k.a. Ettie), nine days after she had divorced her first husband. She had a daughter from her previous, five-year marriage, nicknamed Elsie (her actual name was also Georgina). The honeymoon took place on the Thames "in a little boat,"[2] a fact which was to have a significant influence on his next, and most important work, Three Men in a Boat. GOLDEN DAYS OF JKJ.
Jerome sat down to write Three Men in a Boat as soon as the couple returned from their honeymoon. In the novel, his wife was replaced by his longtime friends George Wingrave (George) and Carl Hentschel (Harris). This allowed him to create comic (and non-sentimental) situations which were nonetheless intertwined with the history of the Thames region. The book, published in 1889, became an instant success and is still in print. Its popularity was such that the number of registered Thames boats went up fifty percent in the year following its publication, and it contributed significantly to the Thames becoming a tourist attraction. In its first twenty years alone, the book sold over a million copies worldwide. It has been adapted to movies, TV and radio shows, stage plays, and even a musical. Its writing style influenced many humorists and satirists in England and elsewhere. With the financial security the sales of the book provided, Jerome was able to dedicate all of his time to writing. He wrote a number of plays, essays and novels, but was never able to recapture the success of Three Men in a Boat. In 1892 he was chosen by Robert Barr to edit The Idler (over Rudyard Kipling). The magazine was an illustrated satirical monthly catering to gentlemen (who, following the theme of the publication, appreciated idleness). In 1893 he founded To-Day, but had to withdraw from both publications because of financial difficulties and a libel suit. In 1898, a short stay in Germany inspired Three Men on the Bummel, the sequel to Three Men in a Boat. While reintroducing the same characters in the setting of a foreign bicycle tour, the book was nonetheless unable to capture the life-force and historic roots of its predecessor, and it enjoyed only a mild success. In 1902 he published the novel Paul Kelver, which is widely regarded as autobiographical. His 1908 play The Passing of the Third Floor Back introduced a more sombre and religious Jerome. This was a tremendous commercial success but was condemned by critics Max Beerbohm described it as "vilely stupid" and as written by a "tenth-rate writer".

JKJ IN WORLD WAR I

Jerome volunteered to serve his country at the outbreak of the war, but, being 56 years old, was rejected by the British Army. Eager to serve in some capacity, he volunteered as an ambulance driver for the French Army. The war experience was said to have dampened his spirit, as did the death in 1921 of his stepdaughter, Elsie. In 1926, Jerome published his autobiography, My Life and Times. Shortly afterwards, the Borough of Walsall conferred on him the title Freeman. During these last years, Jerome spent more time at his farmhouse in Ewelme near Wallingford. In June 1927, on a motoring tour from Devon to London via Cheltenham and Northampton, Jerome suffered a paralytic stroke and a cerebral hemorrhage. He lay in Northampton General Hospital for two weeks before succumbing on 14 June.[4] He was cremated at Golders Green and his ashes buried at St Mary's Church, Ewelme, and Oxfordshire. Elsie, Ettie, and his sister Blandina are buried beside him. A museum dedicated to his life and works now exists at his birth home in Walsall.

Titles in Fiction/Novel Category

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All Roads Lead to Calvary A novel Angel and the Author - and Others, The Diary of a Pilgrimage A short novel Novel Notes Paul Kelver: A Novel They and I A novel Three Men in a Boat A humorous novel Three Men on the Bummel A humorous novel , a sequel to 'Three Men in a Boat' Tommy and Co. A novel Top

Titles in Short Story Category

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Absent-Minded Man, The from 'Sketches in Lavender, Blue and Green' Blase Billy from 'Sketches in Lavender, Blue and Green' Charming Woman, A from 'Sketches in Lavender, Blue and Green' Choice Of Cyril Harjohn, The from 'Sketches in Lavender, Blue and Green' City Of The Sea, The from 'Sketches in Lavender, Blue and Green' Cost of Kindness, The Degeneration Of Thomas Henry, The from 'Sketches in Lavender, Blue and Green' Dick Dunkerman's Cat from 'Sketches in Lavender, Blue and Green' Driftwood from 'Sketches in Lavender, Blue and Green' Fawn Gloves, The His Evening Out Hobby Rider, The from 'Sketches in Lavender, Blue and Green' In remembrance of John Ingerfield, and of Anne, his wife Item Of Fashionable Intelligence, An from 'Sketches in Lavender, Blue and Green' Lease Of The "Cross Keys", The Lesson, The Love of Ulrich Nebendahl, The Malvina of Brittany Man Of Habit, A from 'Sketches in Lavender, Blue and Green' Man Who Did Not Believe In Luck, The from 'Sketches in Lavender, Blue and Green' Man Who Lived For Others, The from 'Sketches in Lavender, Blue and Green' Man Who Went Wrong, The from 'Sketches in Lavender, Blue and Green' Man Who Would Manage, The from 'Sketches in Lavender, Blue and Green' Materialisation Of Charles And Mivanway, The from 'Sketches in Lavender, Blue and Green' Minor Poet's Story, The from 'Sketches in Lavender, Blue and Green' Mrs. Korner Sins Her Mercies Observations of Henry, The COLLECTION OF 5 STORIES Passing of the Third Floor Back Philosopher's Joke, The Portrait Of A Lady from 'Sketches in Lavender, Blue and Green'

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Reginald Blake, Financier And Cad from 'Sketches in Lavender, Blue and Green' Silhouettes Soul of Nicholas Snyders; Or, The Miser Of Zandam, The Street Of The Blank Wall, The Sylvia Of The Letters Tea-Table Talk Told After Supper Collection of short stories Variety patter Whibley's Spirit from 'Sketches in Lavender, Blue and Green' Woman of the Saeter, The Top

Titles in Play Category

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Fanny and the Servant Problem Master Of Mrs. Chilvers: An Improbable Comedy, The Top

Titles in Essay Category

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Adventuress, The from 'Stage-Land' Are Early Marriages A Mistake? from 'Idle Ideas in 1905' Are We As Interesting As We Think We Are? from 'Idle Ideas in 1905' Child, The from 'Stage-Land' Clocks from "Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow" Comic Lovers, The from 'Stage-Land' Comic Man, The from 'Stage-Land' Creatures That One Day Shall Be Men from 'Idle Ideas in 1905' Detective, The from 'Stage-Land' Do We Lie A-Bed Too Late? from 'Idle Ideas in 1905' Do Writers Write Too Much? from 'Idle Ideas in 1905' Does The Young Man Know Everything Worth Knowing? from 'Idle Ideas in 1905' Dreams from "Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow" Evergreens from "Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow" Good Old Man, The from 'Stage-Land' Hero, The from 'Stage-Land' Heroine, The from 'Stage-Land' How Many Charms Hath Music, Would You Say? from 'Idle Ideas in 1905' How To Be Happy Though Little from 'Idle Ideas in 1905' How To Solve The Servant Problem from 'Idle Ideas in 1905' Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow A BOOK OF HUMOROUS ESSAYS Irishman, The from 'Stage-Land' Is The American Husband Made Entirely Of Stained Glass from 'Idle Ideas in 1905' Lawyer, The from 'Stage-Land' On The Art Of Making Up One's Mind from 'The Second Thoughts of An Idle Fellow' On The Care And Management Of Women from 'The Second Thoughts of An Idle Fellow'

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On The Delights And Benefits Of Slavery from 'The Second Thoughts of An Idle Fellow' On The Disadvantage Of Not Getting What One Wants from 'The Second Thoughts of An Idle Fellow' On The Exceptional Merit Attaching To The Things We Meant To Do from 'The Second Thoughts of An Idle Fellow' On The Inadvisability Of Following Advice from 'The Second Thoughts of An Idle Fellow' On The Minding Of Other People's Business from 'The Second Thoughts of An Idle Fellow' On The Motherliness Of Man from 'The Second Thoughts of An Idle Fellow' On The Nobility Of Ourselves from 'The Second Thoughts of An Idle Fellow' On The Playing Of Marches At The Funerals Of Marionettes from 'The Second Thoughts of An Idle Fellow' On The Preparation And Employment Of Love Philters from 'The Second Thoughts of An Idle Fellow' On The Time Wasted In Looking Before One Leaps from 'The Second Thoughts of An Idle Fellow' Ought Stories To Be True? from 'Idle Ideas in 1905' Peasants, The from 'Stage-Land' Sailor, The from 'Stage-Land' Servant Girl, The from 'Stage-Land' Shall We Be Ruined By Chinese Cheap Labor? from 'Idle Ideas in 1905' Should Married Men Play Golf? from 'Idle Ideas in 1905' Should Soldiers Be Polite? from 'Idle Ideas in 1905' Should We Say What We Think, Or Think What We Say? from 'Idle Ideas in 1905' Should Women Be Beautiful? from 'Idle Ideas in 1905' Villain, The from 'Stage-Land' What Mrs. Wilkins Thought About It from 'Idle Ideas in 1905' When Is The Best Time To Be Merry? from 'Idle Ideas in 1905' White Man's Burden! Need It Be So Heavy?, The from 'Idle Ideas in 1905' Why Didn't He Marry The Girl? from 'Idle Ideas in 1905'

Why We Hate The Foreigner from 'Idle Ideas in 1905'