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Taught the piano from the age of seven, Kington discovered when he fell in love with jazz during adolescence that being able to read music meant he felt unable to improvise; he therefore took up the trombone. At Oxford he found that several fellow undergraduates played better, so he switched to the
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meal and reminding him of their previous meeting, he was amused by Powell's comment: "I never forgot a face". Kington moved away from London in the 1980s, remarried, and worked from his home in the village of
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In fond memory of Miles
Kington, who hated this spot, because there was never anywhere to sit down and enjoy it from. Miles Kington, humorist. 1941–2008
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179:. To his regret, he only played in a jazz group for a brief period in 1962 during a summer job in Spain, where he ran into the British politician
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double bass when someone pointed out the shortage of bass players at the university. Kington was for many years a member of the cabaret quartet
97:, a boys' fee-funded boarding school (now Glenalmond College). During a gap year Kington worked as a translator in New York City, and lived in
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A quotation frequently attributed to him is: "Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad."
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columns, written in a comical mixture of
English and French. These short sketches purported to be a study course taking as their
78:. Kington had a younger brother, Stewart (1943–2009), who followed his father in the brewing trade, later becoming a cameraman.
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50:, Wales, and his first wife Jean Ann (1912–1973; daughter of John Ernest Sanders, of Whitegates, Gresford, Denbighshire) in
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Kington was born to
William Beresford Nairn (also "Nairne", depending on the source) Kington (1909–1982), of Frondeg Hall,
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Oxford
Dictionary of National Biography 2005–2008, ed. Lawrence Goldman, Oxford University Press, 2013, p. 649
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français" ("the French do not speak O-level French"). They were later published as a series of books (
131:, where he spent some 15 years. It was during this time, in the late 1970s, that he began writing his
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242:"Albanian Proverbs" which appear profound at first glance, but are actually meaningless
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Welcome to
Kington: Includes All the Pieces You Cut Out From The Independent and Lost
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and other groups) and broadcaster. He is also credited with the invention of
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Letters concerning a recently deceased celebrity's supposed love of cricket
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Nature made ridiculously simple, or, How to identify absolutely everything
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The
Business of Influence: Reframing Marketing and PR for the Digital Age
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Burke's Landed Gentry 14th edition, ed. Alfred T. Butler, 1925, p. 1338
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22:(13 May 1941 – 30 January 2008) was a British journalist, musician (a
795:"My Mother, the Bearded Lady: The Selected Letters of Miles Kington"
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My Mother, the
Bearded Lady: The Selected Letters of Miles Kington
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My Mother, the
Bearded Lady: the Selected Letters of Miles Kington
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Burke's
Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage 2003, vol. 1, p. 132
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plays and simultaneously a convoluted farce involving the
101:. He then studied Modern Languages (French and German) at
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58:, Northern Ireland, where his father, a captain in the
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How Shall I Tell the Dog?: Last Laughs from the Master
62:, was then posted. Subsequently, Bill Kington ran the
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He is commemorated by a memorial bench alongside the
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261:(1989). In addition, Kington wrote two stage plays.
105:. After graduation he spent some time writing with
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285:and other venues in 1995. The following year came
221:Answers to a Christmas quiz that was never printed
645:Death Of Tchaikovsky – A Sherlock Holmes Mystery
581:Someone Like Me: Tales From A Borrowed Childhood
171:, travelling through parts of Peru and Bolivia.
121:Inspired particularly by the American humourist
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289:, in which Kington appeared in person at the
205:, which he joined in 1987 after six years at
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155:, and so on). During the 1980s he presented
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217:. Regular topics for his columns included:
697:"Michael Bywater remembers Miles Kington"
257:in "Bertrand's Mind Wins over Mater", in
76:Kington-Blair-Oliphant Chieftains of Gask
920:Deaths from pancreatic cancer in England
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905:People educated at Glenalmond College
420:Let's parler Franglais one more temps
211:. He also wrote a similar column for
153:Let's Parler Franglais One More Temps
139:that "les Français ne parlent pas le
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615:. London: Faber & Faber, 2008,
611:(translation of humorous essays by
265:, a good-natured pastiche of early
767:Kington, Miles (18 October 2018).
305:Plaque on Kington's memorial bench
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910:Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford
732:, Chichester: Wiley, 2011, p. 153
239:Things for which there is no word
233:Proceedings of the United Deities
925:People educated at Bilton Grange
710:from the original on 14 May 2022
513:. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1985,
434:The Franglais lieutenant's woman
597:. London: Profile Books, 2008,
569:. London: HarperCollins, 1998,
555:. London: HarperCollins, 1992,
199:He wrote a humorous column for
16:British journalist and musician
825:Official commemorative website
422:. London: Robson Books, 1982,
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541:. London: Unwin Hyman, 1990,
392:Let's parler Franglais again!
236:Spot the fictional news story
609:The World of Alphonse Allais
317:Kington died at his home in
149:Let's Parler Franglais Again
835:Obituary in the Independent
331:"How Shall I tell the Dog?"
95:Trinity College, Glenalmond
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583:. London: Headline, 2005,
499:. London: Hamilton, 1983,
457:. London: Hamilton, 1982,
483:A Wolf In Frog's Clothing
224:Fictional court reporting
74:and produced the line of
890:British male journalists
628:. London: Unbound, 2018.
539:Steaming Through Britain
527:. London: Robson, 1989,
471:. London: Robson, 1982,
436:. London: Robson, 1986,
351:, near Blackberry Lane,
313:Kington's memorial bench
81:Kington was educated at
880:People from Downpatrick
378:Let's parler Franglais!
325:. He had suffered from
145:Let's Parler Franglais!
103:Trinity College, Oxford
20:Miles Beresford Kington
900:British jazz musicians
885:English comedy writers
408:London: Robson, 1981,
406:Parlez vous Franglais?
394:London: Robson, 1980,
380:London: Robson, 1979,
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168:Great Railway Journeys
830:Miles Kington Columns
349:Kennet and Avon Canal
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60:Royal Welch Fusiliers
639:Waiting For Stoppard
263:Waiting for Stoppard
706:. 1 February 2008.
329:. In October 2008,
283:Southwark Playhouse
895:British columnists
850:Telegraph obituary
553:Jazz: An Anthology
525:Welcome to Kington
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291:Edinburgh Festival
277:, was seen at the
249:He also satirised
855:Guardian obituary
728:Philip Sheldrake
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485:. Methuen, 1983,
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591:(autobiography).
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750:. Retrieved
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359:In Memoriam
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341:as Kington.
337:, featuring
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267:Tom Stoppard
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48:Denbighshire
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875:2008 deaths
870:1941 births
633:Stage plays
449:Other books
107:Terry Jones
87:prep school
56:County Down
52:Downpatrick
26:player for
24:double bass
864:Categories
714:3 November
652:References
158:Steam Days
44:Rhostyllen
38:Early life
214:The Oldie
208:The Times
133:Franglais
32:Franglais
708:Archived
647:. ~1996.
641:. ~1995.
469:Moreover
353:Conkwell
273:against
192:, near
141:O-level
93:, then
68:Wrexham
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117:Career
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255:Punch
253:à la
185:Punch
128:Punch
91:Rugby
820:IMDb
775:ISBN
754:2017
716:2021
617:ISBN
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227:Jazz
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