Potter, Stephen (Meredith) (1900-1969)

English writer. He wrote humorous studies in how to outwit and outshine others, including The Theory and Practice of Gamesmanship, or the Art of Winning Games Without Actually Cheating 1947, Some Notes in Lifemanship 1950, and One-Upmanship 1952.

Potter studied at Oxford and lectured in English at Birkbeck College, London, before joining the British Broadcasting Corporation, having published studies of the writers D H Lawrence 1930 and Samuel Coleridge 1935. His humour consists of a scientific and sympathetic analysis of different types of humbug, which he solemnly describes as a principle to be followed. Later books include Sense of Humour 1955, Supermanship 1958, and The Complete Golf Gamesmanship 1968.