Humphrey Carpenter, 58; Biographer, Writer, Editor, Radio Producer

Humphrey Carpenter, 58, an English writer and editor best known for his biographies of W.H. Auden, Ezra Pound, J.R.R. Tolkien, Dennis Potter, Spike Mulligan and others, died of a pulmonary embolism Jan. 4 in Oxford, England.

Carpenter, who suffered from Parkinson’s disease, wrote numerous books, including “The Brideshead Generation: Evelyn Waugh and His Friends”; “Geniuses Together: American Writers in Paris in the 1920s”; “Secret Gardens: A Study of the Golden Age of Children’s Literature”; and “That Was Satire That Was: The Satire Boom of the 1960s.”

He also wrote a series of children’s books featuring a character named Mr. Majeika.

The Oxford-born Carpenter, who worked as a producer at BBC Radio Oxford from 1970 to 1974, also was known for conducting radio interviews, producing children’s theater and playing a variety of instruments.

In 1983, he founded Vile Bodies, a band that specialized in music of the 1920s and ‘30s and consisted of publishers and Oxford dons. It performed for years at the Ritz Hotel in London.