Celebrity death that bummed you out the most...

[Sundae]

Mortimer's autobiography Clinging to the Wreckage was the book I always used to take to interviews (either that or Orwell's Homage to Catalonia) because I could dip in and out of it and always find comfort.

It was so named because of something he once heard from a sailor who had never learned to swim. Apparently, many sailors drown because they are tempted to swim to shore after a shipwreck. The deceptive proximity of the land masks dangers such as undertow (not The Undertoad) rocks, cold, tides and sheer exhaustion. The survivors are usually those who are found clinging to the wreckage. And that's what Mortimers says is his philosophy - hold on, it might get better.

Mortimer defended not only the Sex Pistols but also Lady Chatterley's Lover and Oz magazine (the schoolkid's issue - infamous in its time, see Michael Palin's Diaries for example). I have a feeling he also defended Last Exit to Brooklyn in an obscenity trial, but I'm not 100% confident *

It surprised me, reading Clinging..., to find he had written a film that scared the life out of me at 16 and resonates with me still. It was called Bunny Lake is Missing - the daughter of an American woman, newly arrived in London goes missing, but there is apparently no record of her, and the mother is disbelieved to the point she thinks she is going mad. No Michelle Pfeiffer heroics, just a creepy, gloomy London and a woman slowly unravelling. Magic.

I have lost my copy of Clinging, but I have it with me still. Only yesterday, when my Mum was watching a black and white war film, I asked, "Is Richard Attenborough having the screaming ab-dabs in the bottom of a boat?" which was something Mortimer said happened in every film of that generation (except he called him Dickie). Mum laughed, assuming I was familiar with the genre, so I didn't acknowledge him. I will do in future.

I am very sorry at his passing. Like Peter Cook, he leaves a space which his talent, his skill and his personality occupied. Unlike Cook he also leaves kindness, love and gentle humour in the memory of those who admired and respected him.

*ETA - reading the various obituaries online I should have gone with my first instincts. Of course he defended Last Exit - it was one of his landmark cases. It would have been in his book as well, just that I hadn't heard of it at the time. Also the (unconscious) reason that made me so eager to read it last year/ year before - it was chosen by another of my heroes, Steve Pemberton, as the book of the 20th century. So the combination of the two of them really nailed it for me.

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by Sundae Girl

Mortimer's autobiography Clinging to the Wreckage was the book I always used to take to interviews (either that or Orwell's Homage to Catalonia) because I could dip in and out of it and always find comfort.

It was so named because of something he once heard from a sailor who had never learned to swim. Apparently, many sailors drown because they are tempted to swim to shore after a shipwreck. The deceptive proximity of the land masks dangers such as undertow (not The Undertoad) rocks, cold, tides and sheer exhaustion. The survivors are usually those who are found clinging to the wreckage. And that's what Mortimers says is his philosophy - hold on, it might get better.

Mortimer defended not only the Sex Pistols but also Lady Chatterley's Lover and Oz magazine (the schoolkid's issue - infamous in its time, see Michael Palin's Diaries for example). I have a feeling he also defended Last Exit to Brooklyn in an obscenity trial, but I'm not 100% confident *

It surprised me, reading Clinging..., to find he had written a film that scared the life out of me at 16 and resonates with me still. It was called Bunny Lake is Missing - the daughter of an American woman, newly arrived in London goes missing, but there is apparently no record of her, and the mother is disbelieved to the point she thinks she is going mad. No Michelle Pfeiffer heroics, just a creepy, gloomy London and a woman slowly unravelling. Magic.

I have lost my copy of Clinging, but I have it with me still. Only yesterday, when my Mum was watching a black and white war film, I asked, "Is Richard Attenborough having the screaming ab-dabs in the bottom of a boat?" which was something Mortimer said happened in every film of that generation (except he called him Dickie). Mum laughed, assuming I was familiar with the genre, so I didn't acknowledge him. I will do in future.

I am very sorry at his passing. Like Peter Cook, he leaves a space which his talent, his skill and his personality occupied. Unlike Cook he also leaves kindness, love and gentle humour in the memory of those who admired and respected him.

*ETA - reading the various obituaries online I should have gone with my first instincts. Of course he defended Last Exit - it was one of his landmark cases. It would have been in his book as well, just that I hadn't heard of it at the time. Also the (unconscious) reason that made me so eager to read it last year/ year before - it was chosen by another of my heroes, Steve Pemberton, as the book of the 20th century. So the combination of the two of them really nailed it for me.

Nice post SG!