Edwin A. Dawes

As a biochemist, he authored two textbooks and was the long-term and founding head of the Biochemistry department at the University of Hull, where he led its research into bioplastics.

His interest in chemistry developed while at grammar school in Goole, and when he received a gas-mask during World War 2, he decided to test it by producing chlorine gas in the family shed.

[8] On 2 December 2016, after a long campaign, Larkin's memorial was unveiled at Poet's Corner in Westminster Abbey by Dawes and Anthony Thwaite (the Society's president).

[9][10] Dawes's 1956 textbook Quantitative Problems in Biochemistry was translated into 6 languages, and as of 2016[update] remained in print in Japan.

[2] Reviews of its 1972 5th edition noted that it had "become a classic for many honours students and teachers of bio-chemistry"[11] with its text "outstanding for being concise yet clear.

[5] Dawes also wrote several biographical magic books for magicians, among them Charles Bertram: The Court Conjurer (1997), Stodare: The Enigma Variations (1998), and Stanley Collins: Conjuror, Collector and Iconoclast (2002).

The couple developed Only Make-Believe: A Plethora of Prestidigitation, an award-winning stage show, in which they performed as Professor Bluffman and Madame Patrice.