Peaches Geldof obituary
Party-girl, model and columnist transformed by early motherhoodBorn at the end of the 1980s, Peaches Geldof was too young technically to have been a "wild child" the label invented by the tabloids...
View ArticleRoland Meighan obituary
My friend and colleague Roland Meighan, who has died aged 76, was an internationally renowned critic of oppressive educational systems and an advocate of home schooling.He wrote extensively on a range...
View ArticleJean Thornton obituary
My mother, Jean Thornton, who has died aged 85, was a tireless anti-racism campaigner and political activist in Bradford for 50 years.Born Jean Furness to working-class parents, Tom and Edna (nee...
View ArticleLetter: 'Mickey Duff was the only person to accuse me of telling the truth'
In the 1980s I dealt with many European boxing promoters on behalf of America's ABC Sports, and while Mickey Duff might not have been the easiest person to do business with, he was the most...
View ArticleLen Davies obituary
My grandfather Len Davies, who has died aged 93, was one of the last of the Few the allied airmen who fought in the Battle of Britain.Operational from the beginning of August 1940, he was scrambled...
View ArticleMarc Platt obituary
Ballets Russes dancer who appeared in films including Seven Brides for Seven BrothersMarc Platt was one of the first Americans to join the Ballets Russes, and at the time of his death, aged 100, among...
View ArticleJohn Shirley-Quirk obituary
Leading bass-baritone whose distinctive delivery was suffused with great humanityJohn Shirley-Quirk, who has died at the age of 82, established a niche for himself as the bass-baritone of choice in...
View ArticleLetter: 'In putting forward this utopian vision, Benn treated his audience of...
Terry Philpot writes: In the late 1960s Illtyd Harrington, later a leading light of the Greater London council, was a teacher at Daneford school, Bethnal Green. Tony Benn was one of a number of...
View ArticleLetter: I wrote to ask Tony Benn for details, as my daughter had, and still...
In December 1994 the Guardian published an interview with Tony Benn, recorded on the 44th anniversary of him taking his seat in the House of Commons. The interviewer, Megan Tresidder, reported that he...
View ArticleRoger Protz on Phil Evans: 'His sketches of London pubs were small masterpieces'
Phil Evans's art mixed a ribald sense of humour with contempt for the capitalist system and a deep empathy for working people. I still vividly recall the first cartoon he drew for Socialist Worker. It...
View ArticleAnne Bent obituary
My friend Anne Bent, who has died aged 91, was an influential figure in the teaching of midwives: she drew up the first UK midwifery rules and established the first full-time training course for...
View ArticleLetter: Bryan Clarke obituary
As one of Bryan Clarke's undergraduates in Edinburgh in the 1960s, I remember his cheerful generosity of spirit. Classes and undergraduate field courses with Bryan were both inspirational and fun. In...
View ArticleNorman Scarfe obituary
Historian who devoted his life to sharing knowledge about his beloved Suffolk"In gratitude to my parents who so considerately made me a Suffolk native" is the dedication of Suffolk, a Shell Guide...
View ArticleBert Cohen obituary
My uncle Bert Cohen, who has died aged 95, served for more than two decades as the first Nuffield research professor of dental science at the Royal College of Surgeons of England. An oral pathologist...
View ArticleBev Evans obituary
My sister Bev Evans, who has died of cancer aged 46, produced teaching resources for people with special educational needs which were used all over the world.Through her website, set up in 2006, she...
View ArticleRichard Hoggart obituary
Pioneer of cultural studies, he wrote the groundbreaking book The Uses of LiteracyRichard Hoggart, who has died aged 95, opened his autobiography by saying: "This is an attempt to make, out of a...
View ArticleSue Townsend obituary
Comic writer who created the diaries of Adrian MoleSue Townsend, who has died aged 68 after suffering from a stroke, was one of Britains most celebrated comic writers: novelist, playwright and...
View ArticleSue Townsend a life in pictures
The death of the writer Sue Townsend marks the end of a career which began with Adrian Mole's list of New Year resolutions back in 1982: 'I will help the blind across the road ... I will pick up my...
View ArticleMichael Billington on Sue Townsend: 'Plays poured out of her'
On stage, the diary-writing teenager Adrian Mole was a joy because Townsend was serious about her single-parent hero and funny about everything elseI first came across Sue Townsend in 1979. Backed by...
View ArticleSue Townsend appreciation
The much-loved author's first agent recalls a fresh, aspiring writer, and the day she first mentioned a certain spotty teenagerJanet Fillingham met Sue Townsend in 1980 while a junior agent at Sheil...
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