1972

1972 is a turning point in James Herriot’s writing career: It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet appeared in Britain, while an American publisher combined his first two books as All Creatures Great and Small, the volume that made the name James Herriot famous. The year thus marks both a further step in a late literary debut and the transatlantic edition that brought his work to a much wider audience.

A Late Literary Debut

Though Wight had long held literary ambitions, family life, service in the Royal Air Force during World War II, and the demands of establishing a busy veterinary practice delayed his start as a professional writer. Encouraged by his wife, he began writing regularly in 1966, aged fifty. After unsuccessful attempts in fields including sportswriting, he found modest success with If Only They Could Talk in 1970 and It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet in 1972. The latter placed 1972 within the early, gradual emergence of his writing career rather than at its beginning.

Two Editions, Two Markets

The British publication of It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet was distinct from the American publication associated with the same year. In the United States, the New York publisher combined Wight’s first two books and issued them as All Creatures Great and Small (1972). The paired volume, rather than the British book standing alone, made the pen name James Herriot famous. Wight had adopted that name because self-promotion by doctors and veterinarians was frowned upon in England at the time.

Aftermath and Retrospect

Within a couple of years, All Creatures Great and Small had been adapted into a successful film starring Simon Ward and Anthony Hopkins and a long-running BBC program. Later collections continued to appear in Britain as James Herriot; American editions paired books under new omnibus titles, including All Things Bright and Beautiful (1974) and All Things Wise and Wonderful (1977). Wight announced his intention to retire from writing after The Lord God Made Them All in 1981, but published a final volume, Every Living Thing, in 1992. In retrospect, 1972 stands between the modest success of his first books and the growing publication and adaptation history that followed.