Evelyn Waugh

I had a high school English teacher who claimed, in his youth, to have visited Evelyn Waugh's house. When he needed to make use of the facilities, Waugh directed the young man to a room, in which, my teacher said, was an altar, on which sat a portable army toilet. Or as my teacher put it—and here his voice would roll and tumble with plummy resonance—"a thunderbox."

For some reason, I don't believe this is true, especially after reading Waugh's list of how to deal with strangers. Few if any people would seem to have been able to get past the front door, much less the thunderbox door. I am taken, however, with one item on Waugh's list, indicating how he would respond to various requests:

"I also have some post-cards with my photograph on them which I send to nuns."

Maybe he did have a thunderbox!