Bill Deedes, ahem, Passses Away
Aug 18th, 2007 by Eats Wombats
The Saturday Telegraph is a regular pleasure in this house, passed up occasionally when the backlog is too high. Alas, one of the best reasons for reading The Telegraph on other days of the week, Bill Deedes, has just died at the age of 94. His last column was published earlier this month.
Journalists celebrating the life of a crony can be a tiresome, unless the dear departed was a likeable rogue about whom some good stories can now be told. Today we have an outpouring of affectionate reminiscences about and tributes to Bill Deedes (follow the first link above). They’re enjoyable to read and they say something about Britain, in as much as any society’s heroes tell you how it likes to see itself and what really makes it tick.
It’s hard not to have a sneaking regard for a man whose heart sank on his appointment to a cabinet position, a unique distinction among British newspaper editors, on the grounds that a sinking ship was his spiritual home. But the most hopeful and encouraging thing about Deedes, besides his decency and modesty, was his living the kind of vibrant old age we all look forward to.
Keeping death in proper perspective, there’s also fine piece in the Telegraph by former editor Charles Moore on how, ten years ago, Princess Diana’s death divided the nation. I particularly enjoyed
People felt intimidated by the frenzy of grief. That week, my sister got a man in to destroy a wasps’ nest in her garden. Describing the job, he suddenly panicked about possible insensitivity, and put on a special, “mark of respect” tone: “Within 24 hours,” he solemnly explained, “the wasps will have … ahem …passed away.”
For this I can, temporarily, forgive Mr.Moore his beady-eyed, waspish animosity toward the BBC.
