ABSTRACT
Sir Patrick Leigh Fermor looms large over the literature of Greece. He is a figure attracting admiration and emulation; so much so, that Robert Holland can argue for the existence of a “mini-cult” around him. In 1980, David Mason, an American former fish-packer and at the time merely an aspiring writer, washed up on the shores of the Peloponnese. Leigh Fermor, “the greatest living writer of English prose, legendary traveler and bon vivant,” was characteristically generous, inviting his would-be apprentice to dinner with other luminaries such as the poet Stephen Spender and another former British intelligence officer who had been active in Crete, Xan Fielding. Leigh Fermor’s views about the Greek people influenced and were shared by other travel writers of his time. These included emphasizing Greek courage, hospitality, curiosity, and as being like their ancient forebears. In common with writing about other countries, there has been a sharp division of travel writing from more serious informational sources.
