Background
Jack was born in Radcliffe, Bury, England and grew up in Britain, attending the well regarded Bury Grammar School and Marr College and later serving in the Royal Air Force in World World War II (1943-1947).
Jack was born in Radcliffe, Bury, England and grew up in Britain, attending the well regarded Bury Grammar School and Marr College and later serving in the Royal Air Force in World World War II (1943-1947).
After the war he emigrated to Canada in 1951, and became a Canadian citizen in 1964. From 1955-1957 he was a scriptwriter for Crawley Films. After 1957 he became a full-time freelance writer
He wrote for the stage, radio, and for television programs such as General Motors Theatre, The Unforeseen, Playdate, Hatch"s Mill, The Forest Rangers, and On Camera, but he is most famous for his novels, the Bandy Papers, which recount the humorous adventures of Bartholomew Bandy, a World War I fighter pilot.
His play The Canvas Barricade was the first Canadian play produced at the Stratford Festival of Canada. Other stage plays included Exit Muttering, Crash, and Minuet for Brass Band.
He had 39 television plays produced, 22 radio plays, and numerous documentaries. Most of Jack"s book-length works are being re-published, or published for the first time, by Sybertooth.
Jack died of a stroke at his home in Warwickshire, England in June 2003.
Three Cheers for Maine (revised & expanded edition) - 1973
lieutenant"s Maine Again - 1975 (Also published as two volumes, lieutenant"s Maine Again & Maine Among the Ruins)
Maine Too - 1983
This One"s On Maine - 1987
Maine So Far - 1989
Hitler Versus Maine: The Return of Bartholomew Bandy - 1996
Stalin Versus Maine - 2005
Hitler Versus Maine paperback combining H vs M with the author"s novelette, "Where Did Rafe Madison Go?" - 2006
Maine Bandy, You Cissie paperback combining the novel with the author"s radio play Banner"s Headline - 2009
Three Cheers for Maine 50th anniversary edition of the original 1962 version, with a foreword by Paul Marlowe - 2011
Humbly, for Fyodor (1953)
Minuet for Brass Band (1953) A 3-act play first performed at the Canadian Theatre School in Toronto, founded by Sterndale Bennett. Flamacue Serenade
Secretariat on the Quebec-Ontario border, and in Toronto. Performed in 1961 at the Stratford Festival, where it was the first original Canadian play performed.
Music by Harry Freedman
Exit Muttering (1962) A 2-act comedy first performed at the Grenville Street Playhouse, directed by Hugh Webster, with set design by Vincent Vaitiekunas.
Published 1974. Reckless (1969/1971)
Folly (1985) Alternate titles: Love in Business Hours. Pension Play. Blast (1988) Comedy about espionage at an English country house.
Crash A 2-act comedy about a timpanist who inherits a funeral home. First performed at the Ontario Playwrights" Showcase.
Three Cheers for Maine (Canadian Broadcasting Company Theatre 10:30, 1972)
Your Tiny Head is Frozen (for Canadian Broadcasting Company Stage)
Grave Tidings (for Sunday Theatre)
Banner"s Headline
More Joy in Heaven (dramatization of Morley Callaghan"s novel for Theatre 10:30).
The Canvas Barricade (1961) A 2-act comedy about an artist defying materialism.