Geoffrey Willans created Nigel Molesworth, a pupil at
the prep school St Custard's, in an occasional series which was based on
his experiences as a teacher and published in Punch during the 1940s.
In 1951 (by then Willans was working as a journalist) he approached Ronald
Searle, creator of the St Trinian's parodies
,
and asked him to collaborate on a book. This was published as Down with
Skool! in 1953, followed by How to be Topp in 1954 and Whizz
for Atoms in 1956 (Max Parrish, London). Willans died of a heart attack
at the age of 47 in August 1958, but after his death The Compleet Molesworth
(an anthology) and a new collection (Back in the Jug Agane) were
published. As with many of the expressions created by Willans, "new
bug" (from "How to Succeed as a New Bug", in How to be
Topp, p12) was quickly absorbed into juvenile language of the time,
and Sue Townsend's 1980s Adrian Mole books obviously owe more than
a little to Molesworth.
