OBITUARIES

[Cathy]

Where is Wendy’s tribute on Lothersdale?

[Big Kev]

Where is Wendy’s tribute on Lothersdale?

It's in the 'May I Recommend' thread Cathy. Posted Aug 17, 2023 4:33 pm

[Stanley]

See THIS for the BBC obituary for Mohammed Al Fayed the Egyptian millionaire who owned Harrods and was the father of Dodi Al Fayed who was in the car with Princess Diana when she died. He was 94 years old.
Worth reading for all the people he brought down......

[Tizer]

`WW2 Bletchley Park codebreaker dies aged 99' BBC

[Tripps]

Mike Yarwood has died aged 82 . He was good wasn't he ? . . .

[Stanley]

He was David and yet details of his life in some obituaries were not happy......
I heard one person say he gave up the job because when Thatcher came in he couldn't do a decent impression of her.

[Big Kev]

Roger Whittaker (I remember him) has died. He was 87.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-66843162

[Stanley]

Yup, I can remember him..... Never a big fan of fancy whistling......

[Stanley]

Confirmation from the ladies at the Co-op that Helen Thomas died on Monday. So sorry to hear that, she was a lovely woman.....

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC obituary for 'The Man From Uncle'

[Sue]

See THIS BBC obituary for 'The Man From Uncle'

My heart throb when. i was 13 . Great actor in so many things.

[Stanley]

Michael Gambon has died aged 82. See this BBC obituary.... LINK

[Tripps]

I came across an obituary (part way through) for this chap whilst driving. I tried to guess who it was, and came to the conclusion that on the information given it must be Sir Ian McKellen. Wrong !

I'm not strong on Harry Potter.

I've not heard any reference to "The Singing Detective" yet.

[Stanley]

I thought of the Singing detective as well David and as you say, no mention. Also no mention of the fact that he was a very keen home machinist. We once had a correspondence about steam engines. I have an idea that at one time he trained as an instrument mechanic.
I went for a furtle and found THIS.

[PanBiker]

Lunchtime new commented on The Singing Detective.

[Tripps]

We once had a correspondence about steam engines.
[/quote


Masterly piece of "oneupmanship" I surrender - can't match that.

[Stanley]

Sorry David..... The late David Moore did warn me about name dropping..... Mind you he regarded hotel dropping as even worse!
Have I ever told you my Richard Hoggart story?

[Tripps]

Laura Thompson dropped even more names last night.

"Phyllis (PD James) said to Ruth (Rendell) that she couldn't stand. . . ."

Have I ever told you my Richard Hoggart story?

Not sure - better tell it again to be safe. . .

[Stanley]

A PC that Richard Hoggart sent me after I reminded him of an incident at Gawthorpe Hall.

David Moore used his involvement in Gawthorpe Hall for hosting dinner parties catered for by the college catering staff and pupils. They were splendid affairs in the splendour of the hall's dining room. At one of these dinners I was seated next to Richard and told him that if you went in the college library, got the copy of his famous book, 'The uses of Literacy' and dropped it on the table it always fell open at the same page, the one where he gave examples of pornographic literature. He was vastly amused and told me this story....
When he wrote UOL his first draft used excerpts from established pornographic novels but the legal eagles vetoed this as it could lead to the courts. So he wrote the porn himself and said he found it easy and enjoyable! He said he could have made more money writing porn for a living than academic books.
So if you ever read UOL, remember when you get to the porn examples that they were written by Richard Hoggart!
Not many people know that!

[Tripps]

There was a time when PC meant Post Card and not Personal Computer.

Nice to see a follow up PC in case his email didn't arrive.

[Stanley]

Richard was a very kind man. Our interaction wasn't extensive but very good. I liked his attitude to life.....

[Big Kev]

Sir Bobby Charlton, England World Cup winner and Manchester United legend, has died aged 86.

[Stanley]

I have no interest in football but I knew about Bobby Charlton.... (Nearly same age as me....)

[Tripps]

The author AS Byatt has died aged eighty seven. Seems her full name was Dame Antonia Susan Duffy (nee Drabble).

I have her book 'Possession' in my collection. It was on 'special offer from a book club I belonged to a long time ago, and it won the Booker Prize.

Subtitled “A Romance”, Possession follows two academics as they fall for each other while investigating the mysterious relationship between two fictional Victorian poets. Refracting one liaison through the lens of another, Byatt layers 20th-century scholarly intrigue with invented journals and almost 2,000 lines of poetry which the author said “came easily … written as they were needed in the shape of the novel, as part of the run of words”. Possession won the Booker prize in 1990, becoming a bestseller both in the UK and the US, with translations appearing in more than 30 languages. In a post on X, the Booker prize committee said that it was “deeply saddened” to hear the news of Byatt’s death.

As you will guess from the above synopsis - it was quite beyond my comprehension, and remains a little neglected, but the rest of the world thought it was brilliant. I don't really do "Refracting one liaison through the lens of another " and "layers of scholarly intrigue"

RIP

[Stanley]

I knew of her but not her books David.
"I don't really do "Refracting one liaison through the lens of another " and "layers of scholarly intrigue""
Exactly! I am in the same boat. I have lost track of the number of times I have responded to advice from academic friends and bought books by obscure authors, Uncle Bob in particular..... The whole of the Wallace Stegner oeuvre baffles me and I even failed the test with 'The Great Gatsby'.