Lord Deedes – Journalist Extraordinaire – Dies

Lord Deedes – a well known and much respected British journalist – has died at his home in Kent. According to the Telegraph, he was ill. His last column can be read here. The subject: Darfur. His main point: what is going on in Darfur is comparable to what happened in Nazi Germany, and it is time for the world (the West) to do something about it.

The Telegraph explains: “Combining his experience and compassion – particularly for the plight of Africa in his latter years – and blessed with the power to write with clarity and simplicity, he simply never stopped, still travelling widely well into his nineties – though he could never write enough for Daily Telegraph readers.”

Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher that is, reacted to the news of Deedes’ death: “Bill was a dear friend who will be greatly missed. He had a uniquely distinguished career in politics and journalism. He managed to appeal to new generations just as effectively as he did to earlier ones. I am deeply sorry at his passing.”

Aidan Barclay, Chairman of the Telegraph Media Group: “Bill Deedes was a giant among men – a towering figure in journalism, an icon in British politics, and a humanitarian to his very core.”