So about this William Donaldson/Henry Root guy who died...

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All I gotta say is this is one hell of an obit. And I do appreciate this bit in particular:

He first came to prominence in 1961 as the London producer of Beyond the Fringe, which brought together Peter Cook, Alan Bennett and Jonathan Miller. He was also the first promoter to arrange a Bob Dylan concert at a time when the singer was barely known in Britain. "He [Dylan] was sitting in my office one day when I came back from lunch," Donaldson recalled. "I couldn't get rid of the f***er."

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 28 June 2005 17:17 (twenty years ago)

I don't know, Raggett. Sounds like one of those One-of-a-Kind guys. We need ore of those guys on the planet.

― Michael Costello (MichaelCostello1), Tuesday, 28 June 2005 17:32 (twenty years ago)

gosh!

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Tuesday, 28 June 2005 17:41 (twenty years ago)

HILARIOUS obit, written somewhat in the style of Donaldson's own Brewer's Rogues, Villains and Eccentrics (2002), which is simply one of the all-time great toilet bks - Ned, you shld try and pick it up when you're in the UK.

I loved the Henry Root bks when I was a teenager - lots of ppl have ripped off the idea since (eg Jerry Seinfeld), but Donaldson remains the misanthropic master

― Ward Fowler (Ward Fowler), Tuesday, 28 June 2005 18:41 (twenty years ago)

lots of ppl have ripped off the idea since

Well, as noted in the obit, he himself borrowed the idea from The Lazslo Letters, a merry book I had in my youth.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 28 June 2005 18:54 (twenty years ago)

Lazslo was Don Novello, right?

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Tuesday, 28 June 2005 22:48 (twenty years ago)

xp-The style of Brewer's Rogues owed much to the Telegraph's brilliant obits rather than the reverse. I recommend it wholeheartedly though.

― snotty moore, Wednesday, 29 June 2005 20:30 (twenty years ago)

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