Vivien Noakes
Vivien Noakes (née Langley; 16 February 1937 – 17 February 2011) was a British biographer, editor and critic. She was a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. She was born Vivien Mary Langley, daughter of noted aeronautical engineer Marcus Langley and educated at Dunottar School, but left with A-levels. It was not until later in life that she took her degree at Manchester College, Oxford, and Somerville College, Oxford, where she was subsequently lecturer. She lectured at Harvard University and at the Yale Center for British Art. She was an expert on Edward Lear and on the  literature of World War I. Personal life. She was married to the painter Michael Noakes, in collaboration with whom she produced "The Daily Life of The Queen: An Artist's Diary" (2000); the couple had three children: Anya, Jonathan and Benedict. Death. She died of cancer the day after her 74th birthday, a month after suffering a stroke. Noakes left copies of many of Lear's letters to Somerville College Library.