But there is reason to believe that he loved the short narrative best of all. He returned to it constantly during his long writing career, and he found novel writing to be a helpful way of insuring a steady income that would permit him to continue composing his shorter stories. Especially in his later years marketing conditions surely favored the sale of novels rather than books of short stories.
An appreciation of Bates's development as a writer is illuminated by some knowledge of his educational background. His attendance at local schools culminated in an opportunity to attend the grammar school at Kettering tuition-free. As a teenager he showed an ardent interest in football and in painting, but he failed to gain a scholarship for the public school at Wellingborough. Another kind of education was provided by his paternal grandfather, George William Lucas, who devoted himself to introducing the young boy to Midland landscapes and flowers. When the boy finished at Kettering School, his father, Albert, counseled him not to attempt university training--it being unwarranted in the light of the family's means and prospects. In 1922 Herbert therefore accepted a job as apprentice reporter on the Northampton Chronicle, but this job was short-lived, as Bates found the editor a troublesome person to work for.
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