Horace Cecil Hunt (13 September 1902 – 13 July 1954) was an English journalist, editor, novelist and anthologist, who is best known for his collections of unintended errors made by British schoolchildren in their examinations and written work, commonly known as 'howlers'.
[1] He started work in the insurance business but wrote articles for newspapers until he was offered a job by the publishing company of Ernest Benn Limited to edit periodicals such as The Chemical Age and The Fruit Grocer.
For example: 'An epistle is the wife of an apostle';[2] 'Two crotchets make a quaker';[3] 'Lourdes is a cricket ground in London';[4] and 'Parsimony is money left by your father.
Hunt also wrote guides to journalism, publishing and writing stories; books on the origins of words and ceremonies; collections of unintentionally funny letters, epitaphs, last words, jokes, amusing notices and signs; and collections of questions for use in quizzes on topics such as music, books and sport.
Hunt was latterly editor of children's fiction for Raphael Tuck until poor eyesight forced him to retire.