Last Word

Matthew Bannister on Lord Gowrie, the Tory peer who served as Northern Ireland minister and Arts minister under Margaret Thatcher. He was also a poet and went on to chair Sotheby’s and the Arts Council. Kamla Bhasin, the Indian feminist writer who inspired millions of women in her campaigns against patriarchy. Shirley Metherell MBE who founded a centre for the treatment of babies with hearing loss...

Julian Worricker on: One of the greatest attacking footballers of all time, Jimmy Greaves, who later became a successful and often very funny TV presenter... The inventor Sir Clive Sinclair, who made home computers and calculators portable and affordable. Olivia Jordan whose heroism during World War 2 saw her driving ambulances through France before she became Charles De Gaulle's translator. And t...

Datshiane Navanayagam on Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho, the army officer who led the Carnation Revolution in Portugal. Jean-Paul Belmondo, the unconventional film star who made his name in the film Breathless. Angela Milner the palaeontologist who identified the previously unknown fish-eating theropod, the Baryonyx Walkeri. Inge Ginsberg - the holocaust survivor who became a heavy metal singer in her...

Matthew Bannister on Sergei Kovalev, the scientist and leading dissident, who spoke out against human rights abuses under the Soviet Union and the Yeltsin and Putin regimes. He was sent to a labour camp and suffered internal exile. Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, the reggae pioneer who helped Bob Marley to develop his sound. Abebech Gobena, the Ethiopian humanitarian who devoted her life to helping thousands...

Matthew Bannister on: The children’s author Jill Murphy who based her best-selling stories of the Worst Witch on her own schooldays. Len Gibson, the former prisoner of war from Sunderland who worked on the notorious Burma railway and later taught Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics to play guitar. Dame Elizabeth Blackadder, the acclaimed artist noted for her exquisite Japanese-influenced paintings of f...

Matthew Bannister on The Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts. We have a tribute from the boogie woogie pianist who played with Charlie in his other band. The maverick Labour MP and TV presenter Austin Mitchell who fought for the fishing industry in his constituency of Great Grimsby, once changing his surname to 'Haddock' as a publicity stunt. The composer Hugh Wood, remembered by his former stude...

Matthew Bannister on Una Stubbs, the actor who first came to fame in the 1960s TV sitcom 'Till Death Us Do Part', then attracted a new generation of fans as Aunt Sally in Worzel Gummidge. She was also an acclaimed stage performer and ended her career as Mrs Hudson in the Sherlock TV series. Gino Strada, the Italian surgeon who set up the charity Emergency to provide state of the art hospital facil...

Matthew Bannister on The Jamaican-born poet Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze MBE, who was known for her compelling performances. We have a tribute from Linton Kwesi Johnson. Sir Nicholas Goodison, chairman of the stock exchange at the time of the Big Bang in the 1980s and also a noted expert on antique clocks. Shaykh Abdalqadir as-Sufi, the influential Muslim teacher who was born Ian Dallas, worked as an actor...

Julian Worricker on: The opera director, Sir Graham Vick, who challenged people's perceptions by discovering new performers and new audiences. Carmel Budiardjo, the human rights campaigner whose work was influenced by time spent in jail in Indonesia. The award-winning radio documentary maker, Piers Plowright, who set out to shine a light on the everyday lives of ordinary people. And Dusty Hill.......

Matthew Bannister on Jackie Mason, the comedian and former rabbi whose observations of Jewish life took him from the Borscht Belt to Broadway. John Woodcock, the veteran cricket writer who reported on some of the greatest matches of the twentieth century. Dinah Murray, a tireless campaigner for the rights of autistic people. Billy Lacey, thought to be the last of the Norfolk marshmen who used trad...

Matthew Bannister on Gillian Sheen, the first and only British person to win an Olympic Gold Medal for fencing. Professor William 'Twink' Allen, the equine fertility expert whose request for permission to clone a horse was turned down by regulators. Squadron Leader Lawrence 'Benny' Goodman, the bomber pilot who flew highly dangerous missions with the 617 squadron during the second world war. Alan...

Matthew Bannister on Jehan Sadat, the wife of president Anwar Sadat of Egypt, who campaigned for women’s rights, supported the disabled and disadvantaged people and forged an academic career. Michael Horovitz, the anarchic poet who staged chaotic 'happenings' and supported new talent. Richard Ernst, the Swiss chemist who won the Nobel prize for his work on nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy....

Matthew Bannister on Donald Rumsfeld, the US Secretary of Defense who challenged the military bureaucracy, advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and was blamed for many of the failings of that operation. Menelik Shabazz, the pioneering film director who supported the careers of many other black film makers. Elizabeth French, the archaeologist who was a leading expert on the pottery of the ancient...

Matthew Bannister on The controversial American businessman John McAfee who made his first fortune selling anti-virus software, retreated into a compound in Belize where he was suspected of links with organised crime, campaigned to win the Presidential nomination for the Libertarian party and was found hanged in a Spanish prison cell after facing extradition on fraud and tax evasion charges. Gener...

Pictured: President Kenneth Kaunda Matthew Bannister on The Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda who fought for independence then ruled his country for nearly thirty years, but was voted out of office in the first multi-party elections of 1991. Janet Malcolm, the American writer whose works questioned the ethics of journalists and biographers, including herself. Penny Kemp, who brought passion and pro...

Pictured: Edward de Bono Matthew Bannister on Edward De Bono, the psychologist who advocated lateral thinking – and sold the concept to companies around the world. Paul Van Doren, the American businessman whose Vans sneakers were adopted by skateboarders, making him a multi-millionaire. Alastair Hanton OBE, who set up the National Girobank and developed direct debits to allow greater access to ban...

Matthew Bannister on Lee Evans, the world-record-breaking American sprinter who took part in black power protests at the 1968 Mexico Olympics. Yuan Longping, the plant scientist who developed hybrid varieties of rice that increased yields dramatically and so saved millions from hunger. Bill McCall, the General Secretary of the Institution of Professional Civil Servants who challenged Margaret That...

Matthew Bannister on The children’s author and illustrator Eric Carle, best known for creating The Very Hungry Caterpillar which has sold fifty-five million copies. Helen Murray Free, the American chemist who developed revolutionary simple tests for diabetes and other serious conditions. Michael Parsons, the engineer who designed some of the world’s longest suspension bridges, including the Severn...

Julian Worricker on: Sir Paul Cosford, who - as medical director of Public Health England - took on a prominent role during the Ebola outbreak and the Salisbury poisonings. The Formula One boss, Max Mosley, who helped turn his sport into a global spectacle and became an outspoken privacy campaigner. Dr Frances Rotblat, a haematologist, whose pioneering work led to significant advances in the treat...

Matthew Bannister on Dr. Spencer Silver, the American chemist who invented the adhesive used in Post It Notes. Kevin Jackson, the writer, broadcaster and critic described as a “21st century man of letters”. Patricia Brown, who played a leading role in cracking German codes at Bletchley Park during the second world war. Asfaw Yemiru, the former street boy from Ethiopia who founded a school for orph...

Matthew Bannister on: Olympia Dukakis, the Greek-American actor who won an Oscar for playing Cher’s mother in Moonstruck and became an LGBT icon after playing Anna Madrigal in Tales of the City. Its author Armistead Maupin pays tribute. Eric McGraw who founded and edited a magazine for prisoners called “Inside Time”. Former inmate Noel “Razor” Smith explains how it changed the course of his life....

Matthew Bannister on Baroness O’Cathain, the successful businesswoman who became Managing Director of the Barbican Arts Centre in London but left after losing the confidence of staff and artists. Michael Collins, the Apollo 11 astronaut who stayed in the Apollo command module while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon. Sharon Matola, the former lion tamer who became an environmentalis...

Matthew Bannister on: Geoff Crowther, the global traveller, writer and map maker whose work helped to build the success of the Lonely Planet guide books. Isamu Akasaki, the Nobel prize winning physicist whose discoveries paved the way for LED lighting. June Newton, who was a successful portrait photographer using the name Alice Springs to avoid comparisons with her husband and fellow photographer...

Matthew Bannister on Helen McCrory, the actor best known for playing the matriarch Aunt Polly in Peaky Blinders, but equally acclaimed for her classical stage performances. David Hare pays tribute. Hans Küng, the controversial Catholic theologian who often clashed with the Vatican and wrote many books including 'Does God Exist?” and “Can We Save The Catholic Church?”. Eric Gordon, the communist jo...

Matthew Bannister on: The Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Williams of Crosby. As Shirley Williams she was a Labour cabinet minister who abolished the 11-plus exam in many parts of the UK, then a member of the Gang of Four who founded the SDP and later the Lib Dem leader in the House of Lords. Her former colleague Lord Owen pays tribute. Glynn Lunney, who was the flight director on key American spac...