1947: Michael Jepps: Short Story by Kilquhanity Pupil
Scotland Yard comes a Cropper
Please allow me to quote from the Communist Party Artists Group of 1954.
Born in August 1932, (Michael) Jepps joined the YCL in February 1950. He studied at Stratford and St. Martin's Schools of Art until 1951 and after training began work as a commercial artist.
He died, at the startlingly young age of 21 years, on October 11th 1953. The Communist Party Artists Group at the time considered the tragedy to be doubly aggravated since it had little doubt that, had he lived, Jepps would have become an important British artist in the socialist realist school.
Although he wasn’t much known outside of the YCL, an exhibition of his work was held at Holborn Hill art gallery to commemorate the first anniversary of his death. . . .
Source: CP Artists group bulletin 1954
Michael Jepps was a pupil at Kilquhanity from September 1943 to July 1948, and according to a handwritten note at the end of the last page of his story - Scotland Yard Comes a Cropper - he appears to have written it while he was a pupil at Kilquhanity House.
John Aitkenhead would occasionally encourage pupils to submit essays to writing competitions organised by newspapers and others. I’m not sure if this was the reason John kept this copy or whether he just liked it!
For another Kilquhanity pupil short story writer see the following (LINK)
