(1625-1654) Dutch painter and etcher. He was active in Delft, The Hague, and Amsterdam. He specialized in rural scenes; his paintings of animals include The Young Bull 1647 (Mauritshuis, The Hague).

ETYM Cf. French potier.
A craftsman who makes pottery; SYN. ceramicist, ceramist.

(1866-1943) English writer and illustrator of children’s books. Her first little book was The Tale of Peter Rabbit 1900, followed by The Tailor of Gloucester 1902, based on her observation of family pets and wildlife around her home from 1905 in the English Lake District. Her tales are told with a childlike wonder, devoid of sentimentality, and accompanied by delicate illustrations.
Other books in the series include The Tale of Mrs Tiggy Winkle 1904, The Tale of Jeremy Fisher 1906, and a sequel to Peter Rabbit, The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies 1909. She grew up in London but was a self-taught naturalist.
Her diaries, written in a secret code, were translated and published 1966. Her Lake District home is now a museum.
Potter was also an accomplished mycologist. She was the first person to report the symbiotic relationship between lichen and fungi, and to catalog the fungi of the British Isles. She was excluded from professional scientific societies because of her sex.

(1900-1969) English author. He wrote humorous studies in how to outwit and outshine others, including Gamesmanship 1947, Lifemanship 1950, and One Upmanship 1952.

(Christopher George) (1935-1994) English playwright and journalist. He distinguished himself as the most important dramatist for television in its history, greatly extending the boundaries of the art-form. Plays include Pennies from Heaven 1978 (feature film 1981), Brimstone and Treacle 1976 (transmitted 1987, feature film 1982), and The Singing Detective 1986.
Potter's dramas exhibit a serious concern for social issues, and are characterized by a marked avoidance of euphemism or delicacy. Highly inventive in form, they explore the medium's technical possibilities, employing devices such as overlap, fantasy sequences, and flashback.
Educated at New College, Oxford, Potter was a journalist and TV critic before becoming known as a playwright. Many of his plays went beyond the bounds of public taste—Son of Man 1969 depicted a working-class Christ, and Brimstone and Treacle, banned 1976, was about the Devil curing a brain-damaged girl by raping her. Potter often incorporated popular music into his plays, for example in the six-part series Pennies from Heaven 1978, in which the action is interrupted by songs lip-mimed by the characters. Potter also gave occasional lectures, in which he voiced his contempt for the commercialization of television.

1. Village in Nebraska (USA); zip code 69156.
2. Village in Wisconsin (USA).

ETYM Prov. Eng.
1. To work lightly; SYN. putter.
2. To busy oneself with trifling tasks.