Last Word

Pictured: Lindsay Kemp Julian Worricker on: The dancer and choreographer, Lindsay Kemp, who worked alongside David Bowie and Kate Bush. John Calder, the influential publisher, who championed avant-garde authors and battled censorship. The record-breaking sailor, Hilary Lister, who became the first quadriplegic person to sail across the English Channel. John Calcutt, who shaped the contemporary vis...

Pictured: Kofi Annan Julian Worricker on: Diplomat Kofi Annan, who rose through the ranks of the United Nations, to serve as its secretary-general for nine years.... Janice Tchalenko, a ceramicist, designer and artist, who bridged the gap between art and large-scale production... The botanist, Hugh Synge, voted one of the 20 most influential British conservationists.... One of the finest harp play...

Pictured: Aretha Franklin Matthew Bannister on Sir VS Naipaul, the Nobel prize winning author of acclaimed books including "A House For Mr Biswas" and "A Bend in The River". He was a controversial figure who fell out with some of his fellow writers and was accused of cruelty in his relationships. Nan Joyce, who campaigned for the rights of Ireland's travelling people. Winston Ntshona,, the South A...

Pictured: Barry Chuckle Matthew Bannister on Tony Bullimore, the self styled "Del Boy of yacht racing" who was trapped under the hull of his boat for 4 days during a solo round the world race. Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga, the Japanese American woman who was interned in the USA during the World War Two and later fought for and won a presidential apology and compensation for her fellow inmates. Barry Chuc...

Pictured: Mary Ellis Matthew Bannister on Mary Ellis - a leading pilot for the Air Transport Auxiliary who risked her life to deliver fighters and bombers during the war. Shinobu Hashimoto, the screenwriter who teamed up with the director Akira Kurosawa to make great classics of Japanese cinema, including the Seven Samurai and Rashomon. Dr William McBride, the Australian obstetrician who raised th...

Pictured: Anne Olivier Popham Bell Julian Worricker on: Charles Gimingham, an environmentalist, described as the foremost expert on heather and moorland landscapes.... Human rights lawyer, Felicia Langer, who represented many Palestinians in the Israeli courts.... Campaigning doctor, Julian Tudor Hart, who pioneered the regular monitoring of blood pressure in patients.... Art historian, Anne Olivi...

Pictured: Oliver Knussen Julian Worricker on: British composer and conductor, Oliver Knussen, described as a towering figure in contemporary music.... Barbara Harrell-Bond, who founded and then directed the Refugee Studies Centre at Oxford University.... The media executive, Sam Chisholm, who drove the development of multi-channel television in Britain.... Steve Ditko, the American artist and writ...

Photo: Lord Carrington Matthew Bannister on Lord Carrington, the Conservative Foreign Secretary who resigned after the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands. Karen Finch, the textile conservator who restored the garments of Bonnie Prince Charlie and Marlene Dietrich among many others. Claude Lanzmann, the French film maker best known for Shoah, the nine and a half hour documentary about the h...

Photo: Dame Gillian Lynne Matthew Bannister on: The choreographer Dame Gillian Lynne, best known for her work on Cats and the Phantom of the Opera. Peter Firmin who, with his partner Oliver Postgate, created beloved children's TV characters like the Clangers, Noggin the Nog and Bagpuss. Reinhard Hardegen the last surviving U boat ace who took part in attacks on the East Coast of America in 1942 an...

Photo: Joe Jackson Matthew Bannister on Joe Jackson who drilled his children into becoming the Jackson Five, but was accused of abusive and violent behaviour by his most successful son, Michael. Paul Lamplugh, whose daughter Suzy was abducted and never found. He worked with his wife to campaign for greater safety for women working alone. Myrtle Allen, the chef who pioneered farm-to-table cooking a...

Photo: Maria Bueno Matthew Bannister on The conductor Gennady Rozhdestvensky who brought Russian music to the UK - and British music to Russia. Maria Bueno, the Brazilian tennis player who won Wimbledon three times. Gena Turgel the holocaust survivor who married one of the British soldiers who liberated her. Zhao Kangmin, the Chinese archaeologist who played an important role in the discovery of t...

Photo: Leslie Grantham Tina Daheley on Peter Mayer, the publisher who was given a fatwa for printing 'The Satanic Verses'. Professor Celia Brackenridge, the sports scientist who campaigned for child protection in sport. Anthony Bourdain, American TV chef and author of 'Kitchen Confidential'. Leslie Grantham, the actor better known as 'Dirty Den' in EastEnders. Singer Teddy Johnson, part of the dou...

Photo: Peter Stringfellow Tina Daheley on the nightclub owner Peter Stringfellow, who introduced nude table dancing to Britain. Graham Corbett, the first Chairman of Postcomm, and Eurotunnel's chief financial officer. Kate Spade, American fashion designer who rose to fame with her range of handbags in the 1990s. John Julius Norwich, aristocratic man of letters, historian, travel writer and broadca...

Photo: Anne Coates OBE Matthew Bannister on the prolific film editor Anne Coates, who worked on Laurence of Arabia, The Elephant Man and Fifty Shades of Grey. John Ashdown-Hill, the historian who helped to discover the bones of Richard III under a Leicester car park. Dr Davida Coady who travelled the world from Biafra to Honduras helping the sick and starving. Ted Dabney - one half of the partners...

Photo: Philip Roth Julian Worricker on: Beth Chatto, the gardener and writer regarded as one of the most influential horticulturists of the past 50 years The multiple award-winning American novelist, Philip Roth...author of Portnoy's Complaint and American Pastoral Doreen Simmons, who moved to Japan in her forties and became an authority on sumo wrestling Britain's first Muslim judge, Khurshid Dra...

Matthew Bannister on Baroness Jowell - the former Labour Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell - who led the campaign to bring the Olympic Games to London and supported the survivors of the 7/7 bombings. Tom Wolfe, author of The Right Stuff and Bonfire of the Vanities and a pioneer of using literary techniques to tell factual stories. Dennis Nilsen, who killed up to fifteen young men at his home in North...

Matthew Bannister on Bruce Tulloh, who ran across the United States in record time and became European 5,000 metres champion barefoot. Emma Smith the author of an acclaimed novel based on her travels to India with Laurie Lee. Professor Peter Waddington the sociologist who studied policing and came up with the technique of "kettling" to control street protests The Dowager Countess of Harewood, an A...

Matthew Bannister on Lord Martin of Springburn: the former House of Commons speaker Michael Martin. He resigned after MPs lost confidence in his handling of the row over their expenses. Caroline Brown, the cellist who founded the Hanover Band to perform the works of Beethoven, Haydn and Schubert on period instruments. Valerie Riches, who campaigned for traditional family values and against abortio...

Matthew Bannister on Avicii, the Swedish DJ whose songs became anthems for millions of festival goers around the world. He was found dead aged 28 in Oman. Dr. Ruth Nussenzweig the medical researcher who laid the foundations for the development of a vaccine for malaria. Anita Shreve, the author of 18 novels, including The Pilot's Wife which sold more than three million copies. Guy Playfair, the gho...

Matthew Bannister on Barbara Bush, the first woman in history to see both her husband and son sworn in as President of the USA. Milos Forman, the film director who made Amadeus and the multi Oscar winning One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. Dame Daphne Sheldrick who devoted her life to saving elephants orphaned by poachers and other Kenyan wild animals. Livia Gollancz, the french horn player who took...

Photo: Gillian Ayres Matthew Bannister on The artist Gillian Ayres, known for her large, exuberant abstract paintings, which reflected her exuberant character. General Efraín Ríos Montt, the Guatemalan dictator who was convicted of genocide against his own people. David Cobham, the naturalist and film maker who brought Tarka the Otter to the screen. Nikki Sievwright, the Sixties model who went on...

Photo: Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Matthew Bannister on Winnie Madikizela-Mandela who was one of the leading anti apartheid campaigners in South Africa, but also faced allegations of being involved in violence and fraud. Drue Heinz, who used the money from her husband's canned food business to become a major supporter of writers and artists. Ray Wilkins, the footballer who captained England and play...

Photo: Zena Skinner Julian Worricker on: Charles P Lazarus, the founder of Toys 'R' Us - a store chain which, for decades, captured the hearts of consumers around the world Brazilian political activist Marielle Franco, who grew up in the favelas and was elected to Rio city council Landscape designer John Brookes, described as 'the man who made the modern garden'.... Zena Skinner, one of the most p...

Photo: Lady Dean of Thornton-le-Fylde Matthew Bannister on Lady Dean of Thornton-le-Fylde who, as Brenda Dean, was the leader of the print union Sogat during the bitter Wapping dispute of 1986. Sir William McAlpine who combined running the family construction business with a passion for saving the UK's railway heritage, including the Flying Scotsman. Cardinal Keith O'Brien who resigned as Archbish...

Photo: Professor Stephen Hawking Matthew Bannister on Professor Stephen Hawking, one of the world's best known scientists who carried out pioneering research into black holes. The Astronomer Royal, Sir Martin Rees pays tribute. Hubert de Givenchy, the French fashion designer who dressed Audrey Hepburn. Michele Hanson who wrote a popular newspaper column about her struggles to bring up her teenage...