I’m not sure why British newspapers developed such a great style in obituary writing, but I suspect it might have something to do with putting aspiring young journalists destined for great things on the “beat” early in their careers. One prominent UK journalist/politician of my acquaintance certainly did the job for a while shortly after being President of the Oxford Union.

Yet, in the end, even the greatest sculptor can only work with the stone he has, and 20th century Britain provided some particularly fine marble. War heroes in particular displayed the individuality of the British. I remember the obituary for one air marshal revealing his early inspiration. As a boy, he used to go up to the draughty attic of his lareg home and feed the birds nesting there wine. The resulting aerobatics and mid-air collisions fueled his interest in aviation.

Another stirling example talked about a military doctor stationed in Mesopotamia between the wars. He was ordered to fly up to the Mosul area and was therefore assigned a ferocious but loyal Kurdish bodyguard. Unoftunately, the only plane available had but two seats, taken up by the doctor and the pilot. The resourceful doctor came up with a solution. He strapped the bodyguard to one wing and balanced his weight on the other side with a large crate of beer.

Nevertheless, there is indeed great art to weaving such tales into a short column. Here is a magnificent example. By the time you read these paragraphs, you know you’re going to read to the end:

Johnny Kimberley was a jovial extrovert whose interests included shark fishing, UFOs and winter sports – for much of the 1950s he was a member of Britain’s international bobsleigh team.
There was a serious side to him too: he played championship tiddlywinks, bred prize pigs, and as a Liberal spokesman in the Lords advised the electorate to vote Conservative, whereupon David (now
Lord) Steel sacked him. Once on the Tory benches, he took a keen interest in defence and foreign policy, although not in social reform.
“Queers,” he declared, “have been the downfall of all the great empires.”

May the art of the obituary never die.