MONTREAL — Dr. Patrick Cronin lived a life full of triumphs and accomplishments that touched the lives of millions. He spent most of his professional life in Montreal, but was a citizen of the world — he saw the planet as wholly organic and borderless years before catchphrases such as “global village” became the norm.He was born in England, the second of three sons to A. J. Cronin, the doctor and celebrated writer, and Agnes Mary Gibson, also a physician. Patrick grew up just as his father’s writing career flourished. He went to boarding school with classmates who knew his father well before they knew him, and he struggled to be taken on his own merits.
When war broke out, the family moved to Greenwich, Conn., to get away from the bombs and be closer to Hollywood, which had already adapted several A. J. Cronin novels into movies. Patrick attended Portsmouth Abbey School, a well-to-do-boarding school in Rhode Island, only to skip several grades and advance to Princeton University in New Jersey at the age of 16.
In 1943, when the United States entered the war, he moved to Canada and trained as a tail gunner with the Royal Canadian Air Force at Canadian Forces Base Borden. Stationed in England, Mr. Cronin saw the misery that his family had avoided in moving to the United States — he never saw action, but helped with British demilitarization and reconstruction.
Mr. Cronin returned to North America and eventually applied to McGill University’s medical school, assuming that he’d received his wartime equivalency certificate from Princeton. McGill also assumed as much and accepted him. In fact, it turned out he hadn’t formally graduated from Princeton — although this hardly hindered him at McGill, and later led to a spot in the Guinness Book of Records.
One February weekend in 1953, Dr. Cronin went to the Grey Rocks Resort, in the Laurentians outside Montreal, where he met secretary Sis Robinson. They married the following year, and had three children: David, Diana and Daphne.
As a cardiologist, Dr. Cronin revelled in the teaching and research aspects of health care. “He realized very quickly that he wasn’t the best bedside manner of a doctor,” his son David remembered. “He instead got involved in research and was therefore able to help far more people.” He also became dean of medicine.
However, Dr. Cronin’s medical work in developing countries may remain his biggest achievement. He worked with the Canadian International Development Agency, and set up student exchange programs with Kenya, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Ethiopia, Pakistan and Tunisia. In 1976, the Aga Khan, the hereditary and spiritual leader of Ismaili Muslims, came to McGill to consult the university’s medical faculty about building health-care facilities in Tanzania and Pakistan. Dr. Cronin, with his eye for logistics and organization, immediately impressed the Aga Khan, who hired him on a one-year contract that was renewed for the next 15 years.
He’d grown up with the very British belief that children should be seen and not heard, although his kids remember how, with the moderating charms of their mother, he gradually slackened. As dean at McGill, Dr. Cronin invited medical students to the family home on Upper Lansdowne in Westmount, and the children were encouraged to interact with their guests — much to the delight of Diana, who as a teenager was thrilled to talk to the visiting male students.
He also challenged his children intellectually — none can remember winning an argument with him — and trounced David at chess, even when he handicapped himself by playing with half the pieces.
In 1981, A. J. Cronin died. The two had a difficult relationship, hardly estranged but never close, but the loss capped an already difficult period of transition for Dr. Cronin. He’d left the dean’s office in 1977 and returned to patient care, and found out how much had changed since he last practised. It also marked the exodus of many of his friends and colleagues, as they fled down the 401 after the 1980 Quebec sovereignty referendum.
A. J. Cronin had left his three sons a property in Switzerland, a hillside Mediterranean-style house with red clay tiles and views of Lake Geneva, Montreux and the surrounding Alps. Dr. Cronin asked Sis if she would spend a year’s sabbatical there; they stayed for nearly 27.
In 1988, Dr. Cronin’s orderly and self-disciplined way forever changed after daughter Daphne suffered a spinal injury while training for Canada’s equestrian team. While performing a concours complet d’équitation, a gruelling three-day event, Ms. Cronin’s horse tripped during a jump and landed on top of her, breaking her neck.
“That had an enormous effect on him because he couldn’t fix it,” she recalled.
Dr. Cronin was never able to get his Princeton degree, and in the early 1990s, he found out why: He hadn’t technically graduated. The wartime equivalency awarded to Princeton’s American students didn’t apply to Dr. Cronin because he was British, and the missing degree was a ceaseless irritant. Dr. Cronin made an agreement with the school that he would get his diploma after one year of study — including a term spent on campus to write and defend his thesis.
In 1999, at the age of 73, Dr. Cronin left Switzerland, rented an off-campus bachelor apartment in New Jersey and began plodding to class like any other student. In 2000, he received his degree — it took 52 years and 111 days to do so, making it the longest period to graduate from a university, a fact enshrined in the Guinness Book of World Records. Ever meticulous, Dr. Cronin made sure everyone, particularly his foils in the Princeton administration, got copies of his Guinness certificate. As it happened, his granddaughter Christine started at Princeton the following school year.
Getting his degree was more than correcting a historical miscue. For Dr. Cronin, who had witnessed the caustic effect of Alzheimer’s disease with his mother, going back to university allowed him to work his brain — and, he hoped, stave off an illness he knew was inevitable.
“He was a magician at hiding it,” Daphne says. “He never talked about it, but to my father getting his degree meant he was beating the disease.” He spent his last years with his wife in Switzerland. On the day of his death, McGill University flags flew at half-mast.
Patrick Cronin was born Sept. 1, 1926 in London, England. He died of pneumonia on Jan. 13, 2007, in Montreux, Switzerland. He was 80. He is survived by his wife Sis, son David (Amelie), daughters
Diana (Michael Platz) and Daphne; and five grandchildren, Christine, Andrew, Nicholas, Julia and Maximilian. He also leaves brothers Vincent (Chantal) and Andrew (Anne) and brother-in-law Ken (Sheila), and families.
Ismailimail 
I knew and appreciated Pat Cronin very much. I met him in 1971 in
Montreal at the Montreal gGeneral Hospital where we both worked.
I admired his father and read his books ever since I was a teenager.
I was impressed of Pat’s intelligence, character, diligence, human
traits, warm, pleasant kindness and charm. An excellent physician.
I feel that I was blessed to have known him regarding him as a good
friend.
LikeLike
14th March 2008
Market Drayton
England
I hope you don’t feel this is inappropriate, but I have long been an admirer of A J Cronin, whose genes certainly seemed to have lived on in Patrick.
I am desperately looking for information about A J Cronin with a view to writing a biography and hopefully resurrecting him to his rightful place in English literature.
I am not an academic, but I am a frustrated writer.
If any of his grandchildren would be prepared to discuss their grandfather with me and provide me with details I would be extremely grateful.
LikeLike
Mr. Davies, I’m A.J. Cronin’s youngest grandchild and could provide some information – do you have an email address?
LikeLike
Hello Alexandra Cronin,
My grandfather, John O’Connor, told our family that he was a cousin of A.J. Cronin. He was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1900. Like, your grandfather, was a Catholic of Irish descent.
I am beginning to research the O’Connor family tree prior to visiting Scotland for the first time in June.
I would be thrilled if you could provide some information on the Cronin family tree.
I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you.
LikeLike
Bonjour Madame,
Ma Mére Aline Darguesse a connu votre grand pére A.J CRONUIN en ANGLETERRE. Je suis à la recherche de d’une biographie concernant votre grand pére dont j’ai une profonde admiration comme écrivain ; aussi pourriez-vous me contacter par e-mail afin d’échanger sur la vie d’A.J CRONIN.
Merci
LikeLike
Hi Alexandra:
My name is Kitty, and your grandfather is my favorite author. I read and re-read all of his books.I started reading them when I was in college, and at the age of 48, I still am reading them today!
I do not believe the account that Mr. Davies has of the nature of his marriage. I believe that he loved his wife. He loved Nan Jennings, too, but their relationship followed God’s law, as is depicted in the novel Desmonde. My favorite book is, “A Pocketful of Rye”. I laugh when I read that!
Hope to hear from you.
LikeLike
Hello Kitty,
My grandfather would be proud to have such a devoted (re)reader! It brings a smile to my face knowing that his works are so appreciated. “A Pocketful of Rye” is entertaining indeed – I adore this one too. I also think that the relationship between A.J. and Nan remained chaste. The evolution of their friendship can be seen in his inscriptions in the novels which he presented to her (she had typed up most of his manuscripts). There was a deep and abiding sense of respect, caring, and loyalty between them that is probably difficult for many these days to comprehend. We live in such a warped world, and people are constantly seeking sensationalism anywhere and everywhere. Nevertheless, there is no question that A.J. loved his wife, May, until the very end. Thank you for your kind words –
All the best,
Alexandra
LikeLike
Dear Alexandra,
My name is Tatiana Burygina, I am a post-graduate student (Department of Literature, the Krasnoyarsk State Pedagogical University, Russia) and am writing a thesis on A.J. Cronin. The sphere of my interests includes the relations between English and Russian literature. In A.J. Cronin’s books some books of Russian writers were mentioned. Was A.J. Cronin an admirer of Russian classical literature? Besides, it seems to me that some of his ethical and religious ideas were close to ones of Leo Tolstoy. However, these observations of mine are not enough to prove the influence of Russian classical literature on A.J. Cronin. Would you be so kind as to help me somehow if possible? if you have any information I would be happy to get it. Thank you for attention to my letter to you.
Yours,
Tatiana.
my e-mail: greykitty@yandex.ru
LikeLike
Hello, Tatiana,
My apologies for the late response – I just saw your comment. I know that my grandfather read pretty much everything, including Russian literature. He had editions of works by Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, and Chekhov, among others. If you have not yet read Alan Davies’ biography of AJ, I recommend that you do so as it could further your acquaintance with his beliefs. Wishing you much luck with your thesis if you have not already completed it. Feel free to contact me at tealfleur@yahoo.com with any additional questions.
Best,
Alexandra
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for answering me Alexandra! I have not checked this for awhile, so I just received your answer written last October! just finished Keys of the Kingdom again! To create such a beautiful character as Father Francis Chisolm, your grandfather had to have some of the same qualities.
Kitty
LikeLike
Hi Alexandra,
I am a relative in the sense that I am a descendant of a relative to A J Cronins father Patrick who came from close to where I grew up..
I love AJ Cronins books of course but am interested in any information you might have on his father and that Cronin family from Ireland as i am tying to tie up the two families..My grandfather always claimed that link was the closest link to ours.
LikeLike
Hello, I am Mrs.Amedea Fusco , a reader interested in A.J.Cronin’s narrative world . You can read an article I have written on the author on a Russian review after being in contact with Mrs.Tatiana Burygina.
Best wishes
amedea Fusco
Italy
УДК 821.111
Studia Humanitatis
Электронный научно-образовательный журнал / ISSN 2308-8079
Главная
Fusco A. A.J. Cronin. A doctor into lifelong writer
Выпуск журнала:
№ 3, 2013
Рубрика:
Филология
PDF-версия:
fusco.pdf
A.J. CRONIN. A DOCTOR INTO LIFELONG WRITER
Fusco A.
Reality and fiction might be strictly coexistent in the narrative world. The author of this article, after a deep reading of A.J. Cronin’s novels, has tried to find out the right key to penetrate into the novelist’s intricate world. After many interrogatives on A.J. Cronin both as a man and writer, the author , finally, has been able to grasp from the pages of the novelist, the suffering of a man who has made of his romance the history of his own life.
Keywords: A.J. Cronin, dream, reality, conflict, truth, guilt, ambiguity, confession, freedom, self-consciousness.
А.ДЖ. КРОНИН. ДОКТОР И В ТЕЧЕНИЕ ВСЕЙ ЖИЗНИ ПИСАТЕЛЬ
Фуско А.
Реальность и вымысел могут тесно сосуществовать в мире произведений. После глубокого прочтения романов Арчибальда Дж. Кронина автор статьи пытается найти верный ключ к запутанному миру, созданному писателем. После длительного исследования Арчибальда Дж. Кронина как человека и как писателя, автор статьи, в конце концов, сумел уловить на страницах произведений писателя образ человека, страдающего и создающего из романа историю своей собственной жизни.
Ключевые слова: А.Дж. Кронин, места, реальность, конфликт, правда, вина, двусмысленность, исповедь, свобода, само-сознание.
Cronin’s life and novels are characterized by deep existential doubts. The first great question is “Doctor or writer?” He himself gives an answer in an article entitled “Doctor into writer” [1].
“Hatter Castle” was his first novel, set up in the 19th century Dumburton, close to his birthplace Cardross. In only four months, he wrote his masterpiece, the concrete realization of a dream lasted for years. The narrow window from his studio with the natural beautiful scene and the support of his family were the ideal place to let him follow his natural inspiration.
“It was a pleasant view through that narrow window. A long green field ran down to a bay of the loch. There was movement . Six cows, couched in the shadow of a hawthorn hedge ruminated; an old goat with an arresting beard tinkled his bell in search, I thought, of dandelions; a yellow butterfly hovered indecisively above a scarlet spurt of fuchsia; some white hens pottered about, liable to sudden flusters and retreats, some more majestic fowls strutted in sudden excitements and pursuits” [2, p. 251].
Such romantic source of inspiration was present in a turbulent spirit wrapped by his doubts, his “lack of confidence” in himself as a writer. Nevertheless, he got on with his work with such vehemence, that he felt a certain “relief”, “freedom” to enjoy life when he achieved his target. He wrote in the same article:
“I had done it; in three months I had written a novel and so a sense of achievement…with a glorious feeling of freedom, I began to row, to fish, to climb the mountains…”
In another article entitled “The stars look down” [7], Cronin talked about a “force”, a “despairing pressure of dire necessity” that accompanied him as a novelist. He even defined his adventure as a writer a “tribulation”. He enjoyed following his creative genius and “the fury of his masterpiece”, sitting “on easy chair before the fire”, but he was in trouble and desperate in transferring what was in his mind on the paper. He called his desk “infernal”. He was well aware that he was “a very difficult person to live with” because he was an intolerant and impatient person when he was writing. Once again, he expressed “his sense of liberation” when he reached the end of the story. Cronin used his pen as an instrument to get rid of all his anxieties, fears, dissatisfactions doubts. Writing a novel was for him “exhausting” but the only way to find himself and be free to enjoy life. He concluded the article above reporting his emotions after a long “exhausting” work:
“The time was about 1 a.m. It was still and dewy night. I went upon the terrace and stood, rather dizzily, gazing upwards. The sky was a great soft velvet canopy, milky with myriads of stars. To my slightly, feverish fancy the stars seemed like little shining eyes …The stars look down…I must take this the title of the book”.
The metaphor above colored by the beauty of natural elements and appropriate adjectives, illustrate the sublime status of equilibrium reached by such a turbulent spirit trough his writings. The narrative world he created was the result of a hard process of suffering and despair towards a peaceful final purification. His heroes are the personification of himself from his hard childhood to young Archibald grown up as a doctor and writer with all his ideals and interrogatives of maturity age. His heroes are men who have to struggle to achieve their goals and the author’s interest is particularly focused in reporting their crucial moments of their battle between good and evil, their ego and alter ego, the tragic duality of personality.
Never give up: the key words
Mary, in “Hatter’s Castle”, is the symbol of freedom against tyranny and social injustice. She is really a heroine, who never renounces to her ideals, her motto is: ”Mary never knows defeat”[6, p. 89]. She will go on in her fight at all cost. She will be desperately alone and homeless but proud of her freedom.
David, in “The stars look Down”, represents the hero who wants to save the world from social injustices. He will not succeed in his social project and will go back working in a mine, but he will never lose his faith in a better future:
“Courage came to him from the thought. Perhaps one day would rise from the pit, one day, perhaps, help plodding army towards a new freedom. Instinctively he lifted his head” [7, p. 506].
He represents the hope for the future generation, the light that shines in the darkness of life.
Father Francesco, in “The Keys of Kingdom”, struggles to build a world where brotherhood triumphs instead of cruelty and hate. He will never give up in front of obstacles or difficulties: “I’ll never give up” is the spirit that will guide his humanitarian mission forever:
“…I have no wish to retire” [5, p.10].
He will devote all his life to God who is not far away from the Earth:
“Don’t think heaven is in the sky…it’s in the hallow of your hand…it’s everywhere and anywhere” [5, p. 10].
Francesco expresses the author’s faith in a God who lives in our world “The image of God is in all mankind”[2, p.286].
Mary, David, Father Francesco are the personification of Cronin’s belief in a possible human regeneration in spite of allevils that triumph in the world.
“Despite the cruelty which men inflict upon each other, despite the indifference and confusion, the threats of war and open hostility, the destroying and dispersing which afflict the nations, I have an inextinguishable hope in the moral regeneration of the people of the earth” [2, p.286].
“Never give up” were the key words that resounded as a message of hopes for the readers of an Age that had lost its faith in Science and Marxism to build a better world, after the deep crisis of the two world wars.
Cronin’s novels can be read by the new generation with the same confident spirit in a possible better world.
The Judas tree (1961): a human tragedy
Cronin was a great interpreter not only of social conflicts but also of “inner conflicts” that interest human beings as individuals. “The Judas tree” can be considered his masterpiece as a psychological novel created after a long process of maturity both as a man and as writer.
David Moray’s existence is marked by a hard childhood, loss of his parents and all his sacrifices to get his medical degree. His run towards “his career” and “success”, only “objectives” [3, p. 44] of his life, brings him to torture himself in the meanders of his conscience. Four women are on the way of a persistent dual life that accompany his life. Mary, his first love opens the way to a suffered debate between his scruples and his wish for money together with his desire for another woman Doris.
His second love represents a menace to his integrity. Doris will break the “romance” between Doctor Moray and his beloved Mary. After many years he would have realized that he had failed: he was not happy, even though “he was rich, far richer” [3, p. 12] than he had wished.
So, at the age of 55, he retires in Switzerland, a natural paradise, to rebuild his life. Once again, David is assaulted by hisexistential doubts and thinks he can find the solution to his inner conflicts outside, exactly going back to Mary, his first love. Unfortunately, he will find out that a “romantic recreation of the past” was not possible. Unwrapped in a status of great desperation, David finds another woman who would give a sense to his desperate life: Kathy.
She will be the instrument of his “soul’s regeneration”. She is a “liberation” [3, p. 169], she represents the way towards “conversion” [3, p. 169]. Nevertheless, she is an object of desire and fulfills his need of a sexual relationship but with no sinful implication since David is confident that God would not punish their “pure, unprofaned sex” [3, p. 172]. Once again, the illusion to rebuild his inner equilibrium is broken and David is assaulted by doubts. Another woman brings him in the meanders of his tormented conscience: Frida. She had entered into his life after his marriage with Doris, which had been a catastrophic failure. She had become a good friend for a lonely man. Frida’s voice is his own alter ego that brings him in a state of dualism and puts his equilibrium in serious danger.
David is “overpowered”, “dominated” “possessed” [3, p. 205] by a force represented by the woman. She has got the key to solve his doubts. He feels apparently released from a “dark future” [3, p. 205] with Kathy in the prospective of a dangerous mission in Africa, accepting Frida as a wife. Later,David will feel absolutely trapped in a status of “self-disgust” and frustration to be even induced in a condition of “depressing impotence” [3, p. 217] Nevertheless, he will try to come out of his dark tunnel, figuring a romantic end but his childish dream will vanish. He will see in Kathy’s dead eyes the truth: his own image through the mirror of his conscience.
“The instant of illumination when he stared into dead eyes had shattered his self-constructed image. The hollow shell had broken, there was nothing left… nothing. In destroying her, he had destroyed himself” [3, p. 172]. The human drama culminates in a tragedy but the author with his creative genius transfers it in a poetical atmosphere.
“He spent the last night of his life enjoying the natural view of “a faint air stirring, the moon, alive again, drifting from the clouds, a soft mist rising from the lake…” [3, p. 223]. David is wrapped by an “extraordinary calm…the most marvelous sensation he had ever experienced” [3, p. 223].
The sublime status of a joyful tragedy is the final status after a process of self-absolution, the last monologue in his life:
“And now he was talking to himself, in a quiet confidential manner, carefully forming the words: restitution, complete vindication, the court of last appeal-absolving all guilt, restoring his ideal self” [3, p. 223].
A poetical end for a real human tragedy: final punishment or triumph of an ideal self? The author said in his article titled “the stars look down” that the function of the novelist is to tell the truth, but the artist often achieves reality through facts which are incongruous and contradictory [7].
Cronin was a lifelong writer who was always present with his interrogatives, doubts, hopes in his novels, but in“Desmond” 1975) he revealed openly himself both as a doctor and writer, that is why “Desmond” can be considered “The final confession of Doctor Cronin”.
Desmond (1975): the final confession of Doctor Cronin
Cronin considered all his success as a novelist “the miracle” [4, p. 258] of his life. He had become a lifelong writer and he never practiced again as a doctor, but he never separated from Doctor Cronin. “Doctor Cronin himself” became even a character of his novel “Desmond”.
In his old age the young doctor had become not only a successful writer whose popularity had reached Hollywood, but also a man thankful to God for “having a home and sons who loved him” [4, p. 295].
The author opens the door to the readers to let them enter into his own house. Mary, a student of medicine he had met at University, had become a doctor and his wife, a good companion of a life full of troubles and joys. She remained his great love until the final chapter of her dramatic illness. He addresses to her with all his passionate love “You are a daring, darling. And I love you with all my heart…Her lips were soft, passive, tender as a child’s” [4, p. 279]. What tenderness comes from the poetical picture of a harmless old woman still beloved by her man! He continues saying, “Before I reached the door she had closed her eyes” [4, p. 279]. Unfortunately, the tragedy was going to get to the crucial point and she would have never greeted him at the door of their house. He would remain in a little house with his old friend-secretary Nan while his “poor” Mary would be kept in a clinic. Cronin, the author of passionate romances and tragedies, as a man was living his own drama. Doctor Cronin confesses his love for Nan openly:
“We looked at one another. I knew that I loved her and she loved me. I had the overwhelming desire to take her in my arms…she smiled faintly. She had seen love in my eyes”.
“Goodbye, dear darling Nan. I touched her cheek lightly with my lips. Then I went upstairs to my room” [4, p. 280].
In a few lines, the author reveals his secret, pure, silent love. In “The Judas tree” Willie, a missionary, tells David: “Human beings should not judge one another” [4, p. 174]. In “Desmond” Cronin wrote his confession and did not care about hiding his truth and being object of human gossip. He wrote in an article at the beginning of his career as a writer:
“The function of the novelist is to tell the truth, to represent life honestly, not as it should be but as it is” [7].
Certainly, doctor’s Cronin last chapter of his life is buried with himself but, as the heroes of his novels, he had to struggle hardly between his love for two women and his religious faith. He had to repress his “overwhelming” desire for the other woman who “respects” his love [4, p. 280]. Anyway, he was able to contain his duality and find the right equilibrium to escape from a collapse, which would have brought him to the break of his ego as it happens in “The Judas tree”. At the end of the novel, Father Seeber gives his bless to the new couple saying:
“Be good, dear girl, and you will both continue to be happy” [4, p. 340]. The Father whispers those words to Nan. It is the feeble voice of Cronin’s conscience, the answer to a lot of interrogatives, doubts, and the happy end after a long troubled research for the truth.
When Father Seeber asks Doctor Cronin “you’ve seen to church…” the answer is “Naturally, Father.” [4, p. 333]. The Father gets to the conclusion “So, you are still keeping faith. The castle is not fallen” [4, p. 333]. A tragedy is avoided in the life of a man thanks to his great faith. Mr Davies, author of A.J.Cronin’s biography, reports that Cronin confided his thoughts on faith and religion to his son Andrew, as follows:
“I don’t know if it’s true. I just like to believe what I believe.” [8, p. 251].
The debate on God’s existence proof has interested philosophers, writers and generally men of great culture but if Becket got to the conclusion that it is impossible to answer the question “Is there a God?”, Cronin has the answer in a faith with no evidence.
In “Adventures in Two worlds”, he writes: “Even at the Crucifixion it was the Savior’s purpose to leave us in such balanced uncertainty that belief in His divinity still required an effort of faith.” [2, p. 318].
He defines “sublime” the final status in search of God: “It is this voluntary act of recognition which makes faith sublime” [2, p. 319].
He is “convinced” that the only way “to save humanity” is to follow “the teaching of Him who bore to Golgota the burden of all mankind” [2, p. 319].
On the author’s headstone, in the cemetery of La Tour–de-Peliz in Montreaux, there is a simple inscription
“Author of the keys of the kingdom” [8, p. 251].
The best words to honor the memory of a man and writer who transmitted his belief in a universal faith with no creed distinctions:
“Creed is such an accident of birth, of race and antecedents, even of latitude and longitude, that it cannot, surely, be the exclusive determination of our salvation. I, at least, have confidence that any man of goodwill, whether he be Catholic or Calvinist, has full and undiminished opportunity of winning his eternal reward” [2, p. 319].
Bibliography:
1. Cronin A.J. Desmond. Boston; Toronto: Little Brown and Company, 1975.
2. Cronin A.J. Doctor into writer // An Anthology of Modern Memoirs / Edited by F.W. Tickner. Dumburton Library, 1936.
3. Cronin A.J. Hatter’s Castle. New English Library, 1977.
4. Cronin A.J. The Companion Book Club. London, 1953.
5. Cronin A.J. The Judas Tree. Boston; Toronto: Little Brown and Company, 1961.
6. Cronin A.J. The Keys of Kingdom. New English Library, 1975.
7. Cronin A.J. The Stars Look Down. London: Victor Gollancz, 1977.
8. Davies Alan. A.J. Сronin, the man who created Dr. Finlay. Alma Books, 2011.
Data about the author:
Fusco Amedea – Master of Philology, English teacher at Secondary School first degree Istituto Comprensivo Accadia (Accadia, Italy).
Сведения об авторе:
Фуско Амедея – магистр филологии, учитель английского языка в общеобразовательной школе города Аккадии (Аккадия, Италия).
E-mail: amedeaf@yahoo.com.
Keywords:
A.J. Cronin
dream
reality
conflict
truth
guilt
ambiguity
confession
freedom
self-consciousness
LikeLike
Hello, Catherine,
So nice to hear from a relative! My suggestion would be to read the biography written by Alan Davies that was published in 2011, if you haven’t already, of course. It is available through Amazon in both print and Kindle versions and provides quite a bit of information on the Cronin’s origins in present-day Northern Ireland. I learned a lot myself, including the fact that our surname was initially Cronague, changed in 1870 by Owen Cronin, Patrick’s father. I hope that helps – I have no additional information myself. Mr. Davies reached out to me regarding background information for the biography, and I gave him a lot, as well as family photos. Apparently, I was the only family member aside from my father, Andrew, and my uncle, Vincent, who even bothered to contribute, which I found sad and strange (though not at all surprising…). My email address is tealfleur@yahoo.com – keep in touch.
Best,
Alexandra
LikeLike
Mr, Alexandar This is Mubeen from India . Iam doing my thesis on Dr. A J Cronin. I was happy to see your message and would be exteremely great ful if you can help me with some information on Dr. A J Cronin.
My E mail Id is given below. Request you to please revert to the same.
mailto.mubeen@rediffmail.com
LikeLike
Bonjour Alexandra CRONIN
Je renouvelle ma demande concernant votre grand-pére A.J CRONIN,en effet je souhaiterais connaitre la biographie de votre grand-pére , car je suis un grand admirateur de ces oeuvres litéraires.
Au plaisir de vous lire
Henri Drumez
LikeLike
Hi My birth father was called Patrick Cronin Currie and I wonder if there is a family connection. My birth parents lived in Renton and Dumbarton during the early fifties. I never met them but could my birth father be a cousin . I do not want to impose on you but as I am now a grandmother I would be interested in my history. I have spent a lifetime enjoying your grandfather’s works.
Grace Wardrop nee Currie
Birth mother Winifred McCallumgrace
LikeLike
Hello, I am Mrs.Amedea Fusco, an English teacher from Italy who wrote a thesis on A.J.Cronin betwwen 1980-1982. After 30 years, I visited Cardross for the first time in 2012 and I went to Dumburton Library where I appreciated the plaque in memory of my beloved author.I was really living a dream started long time ago!
After thirthy years, at the age of 54, I have been reading some more Cronin’s novels and I am going to “rewrite” a thesis on him. My visit to his birthplace rivived my “old” passion for the author. I am writing on him again with great passion but now I am looking at him with the eyes of a middle aged married woman with family.
I hope you will read my message and I would be pleased to send the pages I am writing if you are interested.
Thanks for your attention
amedea Fusco
LikeLike
Dear Amedea!
I am really very much interested in your work and would get these pages with great pleasure! I’ll be looking forward to your answer to me: my e’mail: greykitty@yandex.ru. Yours, Tatiana Burygina
LikeLike
Hello, Amedea,
How wonderful! I would love to read anything you have written, either past or present, about my grandfather. I am sure it is especially compelling coming from a longtime fan with degrees in literature. You can reach me at tealfleur@yahoo.com. I look forward to hearing from you.
Best,
Alexandra
LikeLike
Hello, Grace,
Thank you very much for your compliment – it’s no imposition at all. I would venture to say that you are most certainly related to my grandfather. His paternal grandparents settled in Alexandria, north of Dumbarton, in the mid-1800s and had nine children (six boys and three girls). As I have mentioned in response to other posts here today, I suggest that you read Alan Davies’ 2011 biography for further information if you have not done so already. It is available in both print and Kindle versions on Amazon. This book will provide far more information than I ever could! You can always contact me at tealfleur@yahoo.com. Take care –
Best,
Alexandra
LikeLike
I just wanted to post a general comment as a new reader of A.J. Cronin at age 60. I stumbled upon the information that his book, The Citadel, was influenced by his time in Tredegar. It was simply that knowledge that led me to read it (I am not quite done) because of a slight connection with my mother, who, along with her sister (children of John Ross originally from Forres, Scotland) were sent during WWII out of London by train, as many children were. My mother had a photo of herself, sister and the Woolley family in front of Rhyd House, along with their servants. She recalled being driven to school in a Rolls, pretty special for middle class girls from Catford. I found Rhyd House in 1990 on a little pilgrimage to Wales during a visit relatives in Sussex, England. Rhyd House had been turned into a pub and stood at the top of a wooded hill. Inquiries in town at a pub failed until I hailed a white-haired man taking a walk. I wish I had discovered Dr. Cronin before then, but look forward to reading anything of his I can get my hands on, quite happy to see he was such a prolific writer. It is warming to know that his son, Patrick, became a doctor and I am sure he did his father proud. I read a passage from The Citadel to my husband this morning, who has sometimes faces opposition and lack of appreciation in his job from a boss who doesn’t appreciate his breadth of knowledge and work ethic, the boss prefers the employees who lick his boots. At 68 years of age, my husband, a former pre-med-student-turned-electrician-and-computer programmer brought his science and math background (bacteriology, physics) to the canning industry for 32 years and now a water purification district for the last 8 years. Dr. A. J. Cronin’s novel written in 1937 allowed me to show him he was not alone and that sometimes good workmanship and good ideas are not appreciated or welcomed. The jealousy and discouragement that “Andrew Manson” endured in the novel illustrates that the issues of human relationships never really change. I am sorry for going on and on, on Dr. Patrick Cronin’s page, but I hope it honors him in some way too!
LikeLike
Alexandra
I have only recently began researching the Cronin family, after having much enjoyed your grandfather’s novels for some 35 years (since highschool), and am thrilled to find a group of, I must say, special people who recognize greatness in both your grandfather and your Uncle Patrick. How excellent that you have taken the time to contribute and give us a connection to the great writer! My personal favorite is Adventures in Two Worlds, filled with so many extraordinarily compelling vignettes about lessons observed or learned through the lives of patients he had known over the years. His chapter on his own return to faith in God is beautiful.
I have to mention that when I visited England many years ago, I was disappointed to learn that Mr Cronin had recently passed away, and yet now, a generation later, I’m able to communicate with his granddaughter! The beauty of the Internet!
I am a “word” person as well, and definitely am at my best when writing, as I continue to hone my skills in different styles, with an eye toward publishing soon. Life is a fascinating adventure, and I hope to always keep my sense of awe very keen and ready to share with the world through the written word! It is an amazing thing to uncover and develop your gifts- may we all diligently keep on that fulfilling path!
LikeLike