Hylton Cleaver is a name that pops up now and then on HTBS. Yesterday in the mail, I received a copy of The Boy’s Own Paper of April 1939, a magazine I had won on eBay. The main featured article is by Cleaver, “Coxing in the Boat Race – and What It Feels Like to Row In It”. The article is 3-pages long and written in a typical Hylton Cleaver way: entertaining, educational, and with a comparison to at least one other sport, in this case, boxing and tennis.

Cleaver writes, “What is true is that this Boat Race is not a strictly foregone fixture like the Derby or the Cup Tie; nor is there a fixed date for it and time of day. It is occasioned by a written challenge from the new President of last year’s winners, and that challenge is answered, also in writing. otherwise there would be no race. There is no prize. The expense of the race is considerable, and is borne by the college boat clubs at the universities. nothing whatever comes from the public. That is why we watch it for nothing.”

Next month, September 2011, it is exactly 50 years since Hylton Cleaver passed away. I think I will raise a glass to his memory!