My father, Roger Sales, who has died after a short illness, aged 72, was a pioneer in the field of interdisciplinary studies that prospered in the new universities of the 1960s, not least at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in Norwich, where he took his BA degree, and later returned to teach for 27 years. A scholar equally of English literature and of history, he delighted in bringing the two together in writing and teaching, and became UEA’s first professor of English studies.
Born in Chesterfield, one of three children of Katharine (nee Adams), a teacher, and William Sales, who worked for the National Coal Board, Roger attended Bradfield college, in Berkshire, following his uncle Richard Adams, author of Watership Down. At UEA he took a first in history, incorporating liberal elements, already, of literature and philosophy; it was a logical step from there to target as his PhD supervisor, at Cambridge, the great interdisciplinary scholar Raymond Williams. This alliance led in 1975 to a very solid thesis on The Literature of Labour and the Condition of England Question 1730-1860.
After short-term teaching jobs, Roger applied successfully for a post that was the Holy Grail of many arts graduates at the time: that of research assistant at the BBC. In this role, he worked on the production of the 1979 series Shakespeare in Perspective, which would lead to his first publication, a book of that name, in 1982.
But the academic life always drew him back. In 1978 he returned to UEA, the first person appointed to teach English studies, as distinct from English literature, or English history. He is remembered there as an inspirational teacher, enthusiastic, committed to clarity as well as to vision, always supportive of his students and of their own career ambitions. In due course Roger became dean of the School of English and American Studies.
His own publications were on subjects that ranged from Christopher Marlowe through Jane Austen and John Clare to Tom Stoppard. After retirement in 2005 from UEA, Roger kept up his interest in, especially, Clare, and he was a regular presence at the annual John Clare festival. His major scholarly legacy remains, arguably, his definitive book John Clare: A Literary Life (2002).
Roger had a wicked sense of humour, was a mean tennis and squash player and a keen watcher of cricket and football: he followed Norwich City through good times and bad. Above all, he was a family man, devoted to his children and grandchildren.
Roger is survived by his wife, Anne (nee Whitney), whom he married in 1975, by their two children, William and me, and by three grandchildren, Freddie, Indira and Leo.
