Irving Deakin papers

circa 1934-circa 1955

Irving Deakin was born in Great Britain and studied at Eastbourne College and the Royal College of Music. A free-lance ballet and music critic, he came to the United States in the 1920's and worked as a publicity person for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, Sadler's Wells Theater Ballet, and Ballet Theatre. From 1937 to 1943 he hosted a radio program entitled Music and Balletfor station WQXR, New York, and in 1947-48, was general manager for the San Francisco Civic Ballet Association. A lecturer and writer, his publications include To the Ballet(1935), Ballet Profile(1936), and At the Ballet(1956). He died, age 64, December 26, 1959, in New Milford, Connecticut. A collection of miscellaneous manuscripts, including short stories, essays, and lectures; holograph and typescript of an unpublished book called, variously, Appreciation of Ballet, Behind the Ballet, The Enjoyment of Ballet,and Ballet Appreciation;holograph and typescript At the Ballet(published 1956); holograph, mss., and typescript of the unfinished, unpublished Ballet Theatre: its Artistic and Private Life,written with Anton Dolin (see also *MGZMB-Res. 73-824); and three typescript versions of an unpublished novel titled World of Strangers.