1992

The year 1992 marks James Herriot’s return to book publication after an announced retirement: Every Living Thing appeared eleven years after Wight said he intended to end his writing life. Its publication makes 1992 a late but significant point in the chronology of his books, rather than the conclusion he had once anticipated.

A Return After the Retirement Plan

Wight had declared his intention to retire after the publication of The Lord God Made Them All in 1981. The interval between that stated plan and the appearance of Every Living Thing in 1992 was eleven years. His earlier intention therefore did not become a permanent end to publication: in 1992 he released another volume, identified as his final one.

Place in Herriot’s Publishing History

The return came after a publishing career that had reached readers through different collections and titles in England and the United States. The 1992 volume belongs to the later end of that history: after several collections during the 1970s and the 1981 retirement plan, Every Living Thing was the final book Wight released.