Writing without letters

TLDR

Mont Follick, a Labour MP, championed spelling reform, sparking parliamentary debate and ultimately bequeathing funds to the University of Manchester for a chair dedicated to spelling improvement. The university’s Senate‑appointed committee proposed a Comparative Philology chair focused on graphic and phonemic representation, which the trustees accepted. William Haas was appointed to the chair in 1963, and his subsequent work confirmed the appointment as a felicitous and ideal choice.

Abstract

The late Dr. Mont Follick was a Labour Member of Parliament in the first post-war House of Commons and a dedicated advocate of spelling reform. I vividly remember a vigorous parliamentary debate, initiated by Mont Follick and supported, outside the House, by Bernard Shaw, which ranged widely over the field of spelling reform. When Mont Follick died, he left a generous bequest to the University of Manchester for the endowment of a chair whose occupant would concern himself with matters of spelling improvement and rationalization. The committee appointed by the Manchester University Senate to study this offer and its academic implications had many interesting and enjoyable discussions, and we eventually emerged with a proposal, accepted by the Mont Follick trustees, for the establishment of a chair of Comparative Philology with special responsibility for studies of graphic and phonemic representation (or some such formula). After exhaustive inquiries we appointed William Haas to this chair in 1963, and his subsequent activities and publications have shown that this was a singularly felicitous choice and a wellnigh ideal appointment.