STORY OF A PIONEER

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22628, 16 January 1937, Page 4 (Supplement)

STORY OF A PIONEER

J. T. GREIN—BY HIS WIFE To anyone interested in the theatre the name of Jack Grein is'a household word. He it was who, together with Edmund Gosse and William Archer, championed the cause of Ibsen in England and lead the vanguard in the fight for the new theatre. Grein was a Dutchman of mixed descent who, even before he was out of his teens, had begun to make a name for himself as a dramatic critic in |iis native land. A business appointment took him to London which was henceforth to be his home. In time he became a naturalised Englishman, one of the foremost dramatic critics of his day, founder of the Independent Theatre, promoter of numerous theatrical companies, ch.bs and periodicals, and advocate of "L'Entente Cordiale of Art." Groin's life as it touched the theatro was so full that it is difficult to realise that he worked day by day in the city at pursuits which had nothing to do with the theatre, save that they provided him with money to spend upon those things nearest and dearest to his heart. An interesting account of him as a pioneer in the theatre has been written by his wife under hor pen-name of Michael Orme. The book has a foreword written by Conal O'JRiordan, and censored and revised by George Bernard Shaw, both of whom wore associated with Grein in the days of the Independent Theatre. "J. T. Grein: The Story of a Pioneer, ISfW-1035," by his wife, Michael Orme. (Murray.)

THE COLES SCORE AGAIN

Another mystery novel of the very highest class has been produced by those excellent collaborators, G. D. H. and Margaret C'olc in "The Brothers Saekville." John Ainsworth, an elderly miser and brother-in-law to Fred 'Saekville, is found dead. Alfred Sackville, Fred's brother, is believed to have been the cause of the death, while evidence is found to connect Alfred with a career of professional blackmailing.

A hue-and-cry is set up, but Alfred is not to he found. A new and younger Scotland Yard detective appears in this hook in place of the well-known Superintendent Wilson, and his first case is a puzzling one. The problem is more than the mystery of Ainsworth's death and the solution is one of the most unexpected whicn the Coles have yet presented. "The Brothers Sackviile," by G. D. H. ami M. Cole. (Collins.)