LEADING LIGHTS

Harold Hunter by John Miles

As a founder member of the Wynkyn de Worde Society Harold Hunter served on the Committee from 1957-59 and as Hon Secretary for nearly twenty years (1960-1978). A heavily-built, imposing man with a ready smile he epitomised what might be understood by the word ‘clubbable’. During his time in office he was a formative influence on the ethos and traditions of the Society that still survive today.

Harold did not wish the Wynkyn de Worde Society to be a pale imitation of a City Livery company. So we have no chains of office, nor do we drink the loyal toast to the monarch but we do have a grace before the meal which is short, simple and effective. It includes the words ‘kindred spirits’ a concept that was very close to Harold’s heart. His ubiquitous presence dominated the Society’s activities, invariably for the better.

He took great pains to ensure that new members felt they were among kindred spirits. During pre-lunch drinks he would position himself near the door keeping an eye out for a new member who he would immediately accost, put a drink in their hand and introduce them to other members who he thought they might find congenial. Similarly, if he saw a guest looking a bit lost because their host had not arrived he would introduce himself (a sharp bark of  ‘Hunter’ and his right hand shooting out at waist level) and ensure that they had a drink.

The late ‘50s and early ‘60s were an era when long alcohol-fuelled lunches were the norm, particularly in the print and publishing industries. In keeping with the times, the food at Society lunches was adequate but unimaginative while the alcohol was lavish and of good quality, including the port and brandy served with the coffee. Harold would arrive early to make sure that the caterers had the wine at the right temperature, that there was enough to go round and that there was a bottle of everything stashed under his chair lest any of his neighbours or anyone joining him for a chat after lunch might go short.

He always sat in the same place where he could catch the eye of the Chairman in case time was getting on and the speaker ought to be on his feet.

The duties of the Chairman were, I think, less onerous than they are today. There were no evening meetings to organise and no extra lunches for the committee and ex-chairmen. He could also expect a lot of help from Harold in finding speakers, one of whom was expected to be from overseas for the so-called ‘International Luncheon’.

In the 1950s when the Society was founded most printing was still done by letterpress, although the race was on to make an acceptable photosetting machine, so the power and the money were held by the type founders, typesetters and big printing companies. Most of these captains of industry had close ties to ATypI whose main function was to get typeface design accepted as intellectual property subject to copyright laws.

The Society invariably sent a delegation to ATypI conferences which were often sponsored by big type founders. Harold was in his element.

I was recruited to the Wynkyn de Worde Society by Harold in a packed bar in Paris during an ATypI sponsored by Deberny & Peignot. If your name came up before the Committee of the Wynkyn de Worde Society for membership sponsored by Harold you were in for sure. If someone were proposed who Harold thought might not measure up as a kindred spirit it could be difficult. Few got in without the nod from Harold. In fairness I only witnessed that shake of the heavy jowls once.

Harold was very keen to encourage younger members from the design profession. His day job as a public relations consultant gave him an insight as to how things might go as design became more important in the industry. He also saw that if the Society were to attract younger members and more women members, design would have to be on the agenda. Those of us with a design background who joined the Society at that time benefited from his kind and generous support. He had a gift for doing you a good turn without any reward for himself. In this regard he was particularly generous.

Although designers were a minority among the membership some of the founder members had notable records in design. James Shand, who owned Shenval Press, had produced some important publications on design such as Image and Alphabet & Image, and employed excellent typographers including Ron Costley. Bernard Roberts of the John Roberts Press in Clerkenwell, which printed many of the Society’s publications for nothing, was a distinguished typographer in his own right.

Committee meetings were often memorable, although there were times when it was difficult to remember anything at all. They were held in a private room at the East India & Sporting Club of which Harold was a member. They started promptly at 12.15pm with a glass of sherry or white wine. The meetings lasted exactly one hour during which time Harold would have got the Chairman of the day to agree to all his, Harold’s, ideas of what would be best for the Society – he was usually right. The lunch that followed was excellent and the alcohol flowed freely. By late afternoon some of us would play a few frames of snooker while finishing off the last of the port and brandy. There was a notice on the billiard room door ‘wait for the stroke’ which seemed alarmingly prescient, particularly when we got the bill for lunch. But in those days such events could be set off against tax.

It is worth recording here that at no time did I see Harold the worse for drink. He must have had a huge capacity or perhaps he didn’t consume as much as we thought. He was jolly and laughed easily, but he was like that when perfectly sober.

As a boy he had been a choral scholar in Durham Cathedral. I never heard him sing but his voice could be powerful and rich when required. He gave a memorable oration at the time of his friend Allen Hutt’s death. I can remember nothing of what he said but his delivery has stayed in my memory.

Unfortunately I know little or nothing of Harold’s later time in the Society. I had a consultancy contract which meant I was rarely free on a Thursday, so I didn’t get to a lunch for nearly ten years. I kept up my subscription and stayed in contact with other members but had little contact with the Society.

I have no idea why he resigned as Hon Sec. Was it ill health or had he just had enough and felt it was time to move on? His departure was, I believe, quite sudden. Harold kept all his business paperwork in an overstuffed briefcase. The story is that his successor as secretary was given all the Society’s documents in two plastic sacks.

How would Harold have reacted to the digital revolution and how it has affected the Wynkyn de Worde Society? He would never have mastered a computer, he had enough trouble with a typewriter. Most of his communications were written in long hand.

He would have been very pleased that there were now so many women members. He might have been amused by the fact that designers, who were perhaps considered a bit below the salt at one time, are now a majority in the Society. He might have been saddened that of the few printers in the Society most are retired. He would certainly have missed his glass of brandy after lunch. But what would have pleased him most, and is part of his legacy, is that the Society still has kindred spirits in abundance.

JM 10 May 2021

Peter Guy by Patrick Brittain

Peter was Chairman of the Society in 1973 and served as Hon. Secretary for eleven years from 1995–2006. It was in the latter role that he is best remembered – he was formidable.

Peter held the Society in the deepest affection seeing in it not just an outlet for convivial association but also a body that proclaimed the very best in the business of printing and its associated arts and crafts. EXCELLENCE is a word that must have been often in his mind.

Sustaining the integrity of the Society was a critical matter for him and in this respect he applied the rules governing application for membership with the greatest diligence fearing, I think, that a casual approach to this process might reduce the Society to a sort of private members’ drinking club, a fate that can so easily befall such associations.

Newly elected members would be sure to get a warm welcome from Hon. Sec Guy. Furthermore it is unlikely that he would ever forget their names.

He insisted on a collegiate ethos in which all were equal. He had no time for hierarchy or special distinctions. I’m sure that he was pleased after a proposal to create a WdeW tie was abandoned for he had an aversion to any form of sartorial display denoting affiliation. Only in one place did I see him yield on this matter and that was in the members’ enclosures at Lord’s where he customarily wore an overstated and comic hand-knitted tie in the MCC colours that put you more in mind of Stan Laurel than W.G. Grace.

Those new to the Chair, if uncertain or intimidated by the role, found that Peter manoeuvred them through committee meetings in such a way that what might have been a gaffe-prone ordeal became a thing almost pleasurable. He conducted these meetings with brisk efficiency, verbose or irrelevant interventions being dealt with a courtesy and wit rather in the manner of Sir Humphrey of Yes Minister.

Formidable indeed! The very best and most genial Éminence grise a society such as ours could wish to have.

PB 26 March 2021

Roy Fullick by Margaret Hall

We all miss lunches at Stationers’ Hall and, for the moment, have to rely on our memories of previous enjoyable occasions. Attending past events I always searched the sign-written boards, just inside the door - the list of Masters of the Worshipful Company of Stationers since its Royal Charter in 1557. There in gold lettering: ‘Roy F Fullick 1972’.

Not only had Roy been Master of the Livery Company, but at the time of his death, was the Father of the Wynkyn de Worde Society, the longest serving member. He joined in 1965, just nine years after the Society was founded and had been chairman in 1972. He was not only the Father of the Society, but its saviour. Without Roy the Society probably would not exist today. As a member of the Committee he took over as Honorary Treasurer in 1982 and exposed the Society’s finances to be in a parlous state. We were in debt, and on the verge of bankruptcy. Luckily he was just the man to sort out the mess. He quickly turned the situation round. Calling on members for loans and donations and backing fund raising events which we enjoy today: the Christmas parties, book sales, raffles and summer outings.

Once the finances were healthy again Roy was instrumental in setting up the Society’s educational Charitable Trust, which since 1985 has provided bursaries for many students to attend lectures and conferences and benefit from sponsored apprenticeships and other programmes.

Before Roy’s involvement with the printing industry he had a distinguished career in the army. During the war, serving with the Rifle Brigade, he saw action in Normandy and Belgium, returning for a course at the School of Infantry in Warminster when the war ended. He then served in Palestine and the Middle East. Finding army life agreeable he decided to stay and was commissioned into the Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry and served in Germany, Cyprus and Egypt, witnessing at first hand, the Suez debacle. Leaving the army in 1965, with the rank of Lt Colonel, he joined Hazell and Sons, followed by two years with Bradbury Agnew, then as Chairman of United Printing Services experienced the takeover by Robert Maxwell, then working for him at BPC and finally with ITM.

After leaving the army his interest in the military and its history continued with authorship of three books on the subject, including a biography of Sir John Hackett.

One of his passions was cookery and once he demonstrated his skill - making me a memorable omelette in a battered pan, oiled but never washed. He was trustee of the Grigson Trust, co-editing with Elizabeth David, the writings of Jane Grigson. He was a very active man who loved sailing and country pursuits, especially beagling.

Of the many assets he brought to the Society and Committee was to introduce his wife, Gaye, as a member. She is fondly remembered as the Hon Treasurer’s treasure.

They were the first husband and wife to serve on the committee, Gaye becoming the charming and efficient Luncheon Secretary from 1990 to ’97. They both had the distinction of becoming Honorary Fellows of the Society.

So for many years the Society was fortunate to enjoy his subtle sense of humour, and benefit from his experience in so many areas: his administrative skills and enthusiasms. When last year’s Chair, Carol Kemp, is commissioned to produce a WdeW Society Roll of Honour, in a beautiful calligraphic script, surely Roy’s name must be top of the list?

The Fullick family involvement in the Society continues - with graphic designer daughter Vicky, a member since 2001.

MH 8 May 2021