Illtyd harrington biography books

Illtyd Harrington with his Freedom Pass

OBITUARY writing has been in decline for some time.

Biography books for 4th graders

When somebody famous dies these days, shift reporters will be sent to quickly find tributes to the departed, which will essentially mean a trawl of tweets rather than the collection of the hidden anecdotes which animate a life story.

This is why the CNJ published the tribute to Dame Maggie Smith that our late literary editor Illtyd Harrington wrote when they were both still alive.

At the time, she was championing Downton Abbey and it was an occasion to write nice things about someone before they died rather than after.

How time flies, though. Tuesday was the ninth anniversary since we lost Illtyd, aged 84; it’s nine years since his coffin disappeared for cremation at his funeral to the strains of Josef Locke’s Blaze Away.

One last smile after a lifetime of wit. How we wish he was still here, filing his mix of waspish