Last Word

Pictured: Derek Mahon Matthew Bannister on Derek Mahon, one of Ireland’s greatest poets of recent times, whose work 'Everything’s Going To Be Alright' was read on Irish TV and radio at the start of the Covid lockdown. Professor Gerta Vrbová, who spent her youth fleeing Nazi persecution, then carried out pioneering work on the interaction between muscles and nerves. Ang Rita Sherpa, the only person...

Pictured: Kenzo Takada Matthew Bannister on: Kenzo Takada, the Japanese-born fashion designer who made Paris his home and was known for his bold use of colour. Colonel John Waddy, the former head of the SAS who was wounded at the Battle of Arnhem. Frank Windsor, the actor best known for playing Detective Sergeant Watt in Z Cars and Softly Softly. Ann Getty, who married into the Getty family and us...

Julian Worricker on: The campaigning journalist and editor, Sir Harold Evans, voted the greatest of all time by his peers.... Ruth Bader-Ginsburg, US Supreme Court Justice, who served in that role for 27 years and became something of a judicial celebrity.... The charity worker Helen Taylor-Thompson, who co-founded Europe's first AIDS hospice at a time of great hostility towards those with the dise...

Pictured: Juliette Greco Julian Worricker on the French singer and actor, Juliette Greco, who rose to fame on the famous Left Bank in Paris after the war.... Bob Gore who revolutionised outdoor clothing with his invention of the waterproof fabric, Gore-Tex.... The ecologist Dame Georgina Mace, who changed the way threatened species were classified and reshaped worldwide conservation policies.... A...

Pictured: Sir Terence Conran Matthew Bannister on: Sir Terence Conran, the designer and businessman who transformed the UK’s approach to home décor and eating out. Dame Diana Rigg, the actor who combined a critically acclaimed stage career with stardom on TV and film. Shere Hite, who wrote the Hite Report which changed attitudes to female sexuality. Toots Hibbert, the Jamaican singer often called...

Pictured: Stuart King Julian Worricker on: Stuart King, who co-founded a humanitarian charity which involved perilous flights to southern Africa in light aircraft straight after the war.... The Khmer Rouge executioner, known as Comrade Duch, found guilty of some of the worst atrocities carried out by that regime in Cambodia.... Deirdre Le Faye, a scholar and professor, whose knowledge of the life...

Pictured: Chadwick Boseman Matthew Bannister on Chadwick Boseman, whose portrayal of the King of the fictional African kingdom of Wakanda in the movie Black Panther made him a global star. Sir Kenneth Robinson, the charismatic education expert whose TED talk “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” has been viewed online more than 67 million times. Lord Renton, the Tory politician who was Chief Whip when Mar...

Pictured: Dr James Partridge OBE (c) Paul Chambers Photography Julian Worricker on: The theatre designer, Sally Jacobs, whose work included a groundbreaking production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, set in a white box on stage…. James Partridge, whose life was transformed by facial burns suffered in a car accident, and who went on to campaign for equal treatment for all, irrespective of appearance…...

Pictured: Julian Bream Matthew Bannister on Julian Bream, said by many to be the greatest classical guitarist of all time. Elizabeth Ward, who campaigned for the introduction of the kidney donor card after her son went through three transplants. Chris Graham-Bell, the founding publisher of the Gay Times magazine. Stuart Christie, the anarchist who was involved in a plot to blow up the Spanish dict...

Matthew Bannister on Hawa Abdi, the Somali doctor who set up a clinic for pregnant women at her home that eventually became a sanctuary for thousands during violence in the country. Clive Ponting, the civil servant who leaked details of the sinking of the Argentine cruiser the General Belgrano during the Falklands War, but was acquitted of breaching the Official Secrets Act. Lee Teng-hui, the firs...

Pictured: John Hume Matthew Bannister on: John Hume, the politician widely credited with driving through the Northern Ireland peace process. Stan Mellor, who became the first jump jockey to ride one thousand winners. Paulette Wilson, who was wrongly threatened with deportation and went on to campaign for justice for others affected by the Windrush scandal. And the film director Sir Alan Parker, wh...

Pictured: Stuart Wheeler Matthew Bannister on Stuart Wheeler, the spread betting tycoon who used his millions to fund anti-EU political parties and campaigns. Josephine Cox, the multi-million selling author whose novels often drew on her working class childhood in Blackburn. Miloš Jakeš, the General Secretary of the Czech Communist Party at the time of the Velvet Revolution. Peter Green, the rever...

Matthew Bannister on John Lewis, the leading American civil rights campaigner who was beaten and imprisoned in the 1960s when he marched with Martin Luther King and later served as a Congressman. Tony Elliott CBE, who founded the listings magazine Time Out and oversaw its transformation into a global brand. Wendy Cooling, the former teacher who, through the Bookstart scheme, gave millions of babie...

Pictured: Jack Charlton Matthew Bannister on The footballer Jack Charlton, who went from a pit village in Northumberland to become a Leeds United stalwart and member of England’s 1966 World Cup winning team – and then a successful manager of the Republic of Ireland. Zindzi Mandela, the youngest daughter of Nelson Mandela who was an anti-apartheid activist and later South Africa’s ambassador to Den...

Pictured: Ennio Morricone Matthew Bannister on: Ennio Morricone, the Italian composer best known for his scores for films like The Good, The Bad and the Ugly and The Mission, but keen to be remembered also for his avant garde classical works. Sir Everton Weekes, the outstanding batsman who played a key role in West Indian cricket’s success in the 1940s and 50s. Baroness Maddock, the Liberal Democr...

Pictured: Milton Glaser Matthew Bannister on The graphic designer Milton Glaser who came up with the iconic “I heart New York” logo – but didn’t make a penny from it. Terry Dicks, the controversial right wing Tory MP who went out of his way to challenge political correctness. Professor Tom Arie, the psychiatrist who helped to transform mental health treatment for older people. Else Blangsted, the...

Pictured: Sir Ian Holm Matthew Bannister on Sir Ian Holm, the respected actor best known for playing Bilbo Baggins in the Lord of the Rings films and for his interpretation of Shakespeare and Pinter. Jean Kennedy Smith, the last survivor of nine children of Joseph Kennedy. She was US ambassador to Dublin at a significant time in the Northern Ireland peace process. Felicity Bryan the literary agent...

Pictured: Dame Vera Lynn Matthew Bannister on: Professor Geoffrey Burnstock, the eminent neurobiologist who identified the function of a neurotransmitter called ATP with important implications for the treatment of many conditions including strokes, cancer and cystic fibrosis. Larry Kramer, the outspoken gay rights campaigner who organised direct action to force the US government to confront the AI...

Pictured: Christo Javacheff Matthew Bannister on: The artist Christo Javacheff, best known for his extremely ambitious projects to wrap significant buildings and landscapes in fabric. They included the Reichstag in Berlin and the coastline of Australia. Cathie Sabin, who was the first woman to be President of the Lawn Tennis Association. Dorothy Wakely, who served as a Signals Planner with the Spe...

Pictured: Stanley Ho Julian Worricker on: The man praised by both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown for being the architect of the national minimum wage, Roger Fellows…. One of Asia’s richest men - the gambling tycoon, Stanley Ho, who transformed the economy of Macau…. The educationist Margaret Meek Spencer, who influenced a generation of children and teachers by emphasising the joy of reading... And th...

Pictured: Margaret Maughan Julian Worricker on Britain’s first Paralympic gold medallist, Margaret Maughan; Tanni Grey-Thompson compares the games of 1960 and now…. The music promoter and producer, John Cumming, co-founder of the London Jazz Festival…. Jerry Givens, once a state executioner….but then a leading campaigner in the United States for the abolition of the death penalty…. And the comedy...

Pictured: Lord Robert May of Oxford Matthew Bannister on Lord May, a former Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK government and President of the Royal Society. He developed the concept of the R value in tracking the spread of infectious diseases and laid down key principles for scientific advice to politicians. Judith Darmady, the paediatrician who travelled to Romania to help thousands of children...

Matthew Bannister on The rock 'n' roll pioneer Little Richard, whose flamboyant performances and powerful vocal style influenced many who came after him. Janet Carr, the psychologist whose long-running study changed attitudes to people with Down’s Syndrome. John Horton Conway, the playful mathematician who invented the Game of Life. Florian Schneider, the co-founder of the mould-breaking German el...

Pictured: Catherine Hamlin Matthew Bannister on Catherine Hamlin the obstetrician who, with her husband, set about tackling the devastating effects of obstetric fistulae in the women of Ethiopia. Irrfan Khan, the actor whose career brought stardom in both Indian and Hollywood films, like Jurassic World, Slumdog Millionaire and The Amazing Spiderman. The South African anti-apartheid activist Denis...

Pictured: Ronan O’Rahilly Matthew Bannister on Ronan O’Rahilly, the Irish businessman who ran the pirate radio station Radio Caroline on a ship off the coast of Essex. Sir John Houghton, the atmospheric physicist who was Director of the Met Office and co-chair of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change. Sue Davies, who founded and ran the Photographers' Gallery in London, supporting the car...