Wendy Cope (b. 1945) Lonely Hearts LINKS No links found. BIOGRAPHY Wendy Cope (b. 1945) Cope was born in the south of England. Both parents held management positions with British companies. Cope earned a B.A. from Oxford (1966) and a diploma from the Westminster College of Education (1967). After teaching for several years at various junior schools in London, she became a free-lance writer and columnist. Her Making Cocoa for Kingsley Amis (1986) includes a number of literary jokes and parodies in the style of some of the most notable twentieth-century poets. Asked about her work, Cope asserted, "I dislike the term 'light verse' because it is used as a way of dismissing poets who allow humor into their work. I believe that a humorous poem can also be 'serious'—i.e., deeply felt and saying something that matters."