Novelist Anthony Powell Dies

Anthony Powell, author of the 12-volume series A Dance to the Music of Time, died at his home in Somerset on March 28. Powell is probably best remembered by Thelemites for his character, Dr. Trelawney, who "conducted a centre for his own peculiar religious, philosophical -- some said magical -- tenants, a cult of which he was high priest, if not actually messiah." Trelawney, introduced in volume 6 of Dance, entitled The Kindly Ones, is clearly based on Aleister Crowley.

In one scene from The Kindly Ones, General Conyers (seemingly based on J.F.C. Fuller) faces Dr. Trelawney:

At last Dr. Trelawney took the initiative. Raising his arm slightly, he spoke in a low clear voice, almost in the accents of one whose very perfect enunciation indicates that English is not his native tongue.

"The Essence of the All is the Godhead of the True."

Then a very surprising thing happened. General Conyers gave an almost imperceptible nod, at the same time removing his hands from the pockets of his ulster.

"The Vision of Visions," he said, "heals the Blindness of Sight."

Dr. Trelawny appears again at the end of the book as an old man at Hastings. And he haunts the last 5 books in the series as a harbinger of the Furies . . .

Powell, who has been described as "the last literary lion of the 20th century," is survived by his wife and their two sons.

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