My husband, Graeme Matthews, who has died aged 78, was an inspirational English teacher and deputy head of Stanmore college, in Middlesex. In 1990 he took early retirement to study to become a City of London guide. He relished the opportunities to research London's history and to captivate his audiences as he recreated the dramas of past events.
In 2000, Graeme was asked to join the London Older People's Strategies Group (LOPSG), which lobbies the Greater London Authority. He became its secretary and worked tirelessly for its advancement, bringing his own life history, toughness and the concerns of older Londoners to the job. His friend Mervyn Kohler of Age UK recalls that he was "gentle, firm, clear, principled and well organised" in the role.
Graeme was born in Gosport, Hampshire, to George and Marjorie. His father was in the navy and away from home during the second world war, so Graeme became independent from an early age. At 15 he showed the imagination and initiative to travel to postwar France on his own, staying in youth hostels and making his way to Paris. He excelled at school and, after national service in the army, studied English at Southampton University.
During the last seven years, despite the rigours of treatments for multiple myeloma, Graeme continued to contribute to LOPSG. He also became a director and patron of Capital Age festival, London's senior arts festival. This year's festival will be dedicated to his memory.
At home he enjoyed listening to music and reading poetry, particularly Edward Thomas and Thomas Hardy. He loved the Wiltshire countryside, where we lived in the 1960s. To his family and friends, he was the most determined, loving, creative and thoughtful man. Until a few weeks before his death, he could still be found engrossed in preparations for the one-to-one Latin lessons he was giving a young student. "Carpe diem" was indeed his motto. Throughout his life he remained strong and purposeful in all he did. The wonders of the world gripped his imagination.
We married in 1960. I survive him, along with our children, Justin, Chris and Sarah, five grandchildren, Alex, Philip, Gracie, Ella and Livvie; and his two younger sisters, Wendy and Diane.