PICKERING, David (Hugh) 1958-

PERSONAL: Born October 9, 1958, in Bromsgrove, Worcester, England; son of George Donald (a solicitor) and Valerie Maureen (a teacher and homemaker; maiden name, Hall) Pickering; married Janet Moyse (a teacher), July 30, 1988; children: Edward Sebastian, Charles Duncan. Ethnicity: "White." Education: St. Peter's College, Oxford, M.A. (with honors), 1980. Politics: "All parties and none of them." Religion: "Humanist." Hobbies and other interests: Painting, drawing, cultural activities of all kinds, family activities.

ADDRESSES: Home and office—25 Mitre St., Buckingham, Buckinghamshire MK18 1DW, England. E-mail—david@pickering96.freeserve.co.uk.

CAREER: Market House Books, Ltd., Aylesbury, England, assistant editor, 1984-92; freelance writer and editor of general reference books, 1992—.

MEMBER: English Civil War Society (sergeant of musket, 1981-83), Old Gaolers Music and Drama Society (cochair, 1990-92; chair, 1996-98, 2002—), Redditch Amateur Theatre Society, Oxford Union Society (life member).

AWARDS, HONORS: Festival awards for stage plays written for amateur production.

WRITINGS:

EDITOR; EXCEPT AS INDICATED

(With William Packard and Charlotte Savidge) The Facts on File Dictionary of the Theatre, Facts on File (New York, NY), 1988.

(With Alan Isaacs and Elizabeth Martin) Brewer's Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Phrase and Fable, Cassell (London, England), 1991.

Concise English Dictionary, Cassell (London, England), 1992.

(With others) International Dictionary of Theatre, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), three volumes, 1992-1996.

Brewer's Theatrical Phrase and Fable, Cassell (London, England), 1993.

Dictionary of European Culture, Cassell (London, England), 1993.

(And contributor) Encyclopedia of Pantomime, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1993.

(And contributor) Brewer's Soccer Phrase and Fable, Cassell (London, England), 1993.

Brewer's Twentieth-Century Music, Cassell (London, England), 1994.

Cassell Dictionary of Superstitions, Cassell (New York, NY), 1995.

Cassell Dictionary of Witchcraft, Cassell (New York, NY), 1996.

Dictionary of Abbreviations, Cassell (New York, NY), 1996.

Cassell Companion to Twentieth-Century Music, Cassell (London, England), 1997.

Cassell Dictionary of Proverbs, Cassell (London, England), 1997.

(Compiler, with Betty Kirkpatrick) The Cassell Thesaurus, Cassell (London, England), 1998.

Cassell Dictionary and Thesaurus, Cassell (London, England), 1999.

A Dictionary of Folklore, Facts on File (New York, NY), 1999.

The Penguin Dictionary of First Names, Penguin (London, England), 1999.

(With Rosalind Fergusson and Martin Manser) The New Penguin Thesaurus, Penguin (New York, NY), 2000.

Cassell's Sports Quotations, Cassell (London, England), 2000.

(With Jonathan Law) The New Penguin Dictionary of the Theatre, revised and enlarged edition, Penguin (London, England), 2001.

Pear's Fact Finder 2002, Penguin (London, England), 2001.

(Associate editor) The Facts on File Dictionary of Foreign Words and Phrases, Facts on File (New York, NY), 2002.

Contributor to approximately 170 reference books.

SIDELIGHTS: David Pickering, a "compilation maven," as a Publishers Weekly reviewer called him, has served as editor for more than a dozen volumes on topics ranging from the bible to music, sports to witchcraft. He is particularly noted for his contributions to books about the stage, of which the three-volume International Dictionary of the Theatre is an example.

In the Cassell Dictionary of Proverbs, a proverb is defined by Pickering as "a short pithy saying." The volume covers some 3,000 proverbs from worldwide sources. A Booklist reviewer that noted Pickering's "entertaining and informative writing style makes this easy-to-use dictionary a pleasant experience." The 2000 publication A Dictionary of Folklore explores "a wide range of subjects, form the mythology of real and magic creatures to rituals," a Booklist critic noted, adding that some "modern touches" of contemporary folklorists "would have been helpful." Katherine Kaigler-Koenig of Library Journal pointed to the book's inclusion of "herbal remedies" and folklore "associated with selected trees, plants, birds, and animals."

The wit and wisdom of sports figures make up the basis for Pickering's Cassell's Sports Quotations. A Publishers Weekly reviewer noted that the Englishman Pickering quotes extensively from the "fanatical views" of international names, including soccer's Bill Shankly, who, according to Pickering, says his game is more than merely "a matter of life and death."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Cassell's Sports Quotations, Cassell (London, England), 2000.

PERIODICALS

American Reference Books Annual, 2001, review of Cassell's Sports Quotations, p. 358, and review of A Dictionary of Folklore, p. 545.

Booklist, March 15, 1996, review of International Dictionary of the Theatre, p. 1315; February 1, 1998, review of Cassell Dictionary of Proverbs, p. 934; May 15, 2000, review of A Dictionary of Folklore, p. 1780, and Dona Helmer, review of Cassell Dictionary of Proverbs, p. 1772.

Choice, May, 1996, review of International Dictionary of the Theatre, p. 1450.

Library Journal, July, 1996, review of International Dictionary of the Theatre, p. 104; March 1, 1999, review of Cassell Companion to Twentieth-Century Music, p. 76; June 1, 2000, Katherine Kaigler-Koenig, review of A Dictionary of Folklore, p. 116.

Publishers Weekly, February 26, 2001, "Let the Games Begin," p. 79.

Reference and Research Book News, July, 1996, review of Dictionary of Abbreviations, p. 58.

School Librarian, August, 1997, review of Bible Questions and Answers, p. 153.

Teaching Music, August, 1995, review of Brewer's Twentieth-Century Music, p. 49.

Times Educational Supplement, April 14, 1989, review of The Facts on File Dictionary of the Theatre, p. B15.

Times Literary Supplement, August 23 1996, review of Dictionary of Superstitions, p. 33.