What you possible didn't know about Simon, that he :
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* was 11 years old when his father became a national figure with his book , 'The Uses of Literacy' and 14 in 1960 when he was called as an expert witness in the trial dealing with the publication of D.H.Lawrence's 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' which reduced censorship and ushered in the permissive 1960's.
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* with his world view shaped by those family roots in the industrial North, left school in 1964 at the age of 18 and took a year off to teach in Uganda, where he later admitted he 'was a terrible teacher', before studying English at King's College, Cambridge where he worked on the university newspaper, 'Varsity' writing a column spiced with malicious gossip called 'Mungo Fairweather's Diary'.
* left University at the age of 23 in 1968, joined 'The Gaurdian' as a graduate recruit in its Manchester Office and learnt lessons in the trade of journalism when, for example, he wrote a match report of a game between Chelsea and Blackpool, evoked Greek tragedy and the blinding of Oedipus and was asked by the night editor : "Will you tell me one thing? Were they playing with a ball or a discus?"
* was picked out to cover Northern Ireland, working with Simon Winchester, and where, according to Alan Rushbridger his 'initial spells were arduous and sometimes dangerous. He learned the hard way how to write tightly, vividly and quickly.'
* stayed for five years through the mounting political tension which culminated in the shooting of 26 civil right protesters and deaths of 13 by the British Army in Derry in on 'Bloody Sunday' in 1972 and had written a piece a few days before, immediately denounced by the military, about the excessive behaviour of the Parachute Regiment elsewhere in the Province.
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* in 1981, left 'The Guardian' for 'The Observer', wrote a regular column of disrespectful political comment for 'Punch', contributed to the 'Spectator', wrote for tv on television and wine, became a familiar voice on radio's 'News Quiz', first as a participant and then in the late 1990s, as Chairman.
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* rejoined the Guardian as parliamentary sketch writer and remained there for the rest of his working life, where, according to Alan Rushbridger 'his news training stood him in perfect stead for the daily task of noting the key moments of any debate before retiring to write something apparently effortless, piercing and funny – all written in the beautiful spare prose that had been drummed into him in Manchester.'
* described the Tory MP, Nicholas Soames, at a party conference as : 'Soames was magnificent, a vast, florid spectacle, a massive inflatable frontbench spokesman. You could tow him out to a village fete and charge children 50p to bounce on him. They could have floated him over London to bring down the German bombers.'
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* wrote of Bill Clinton at the Labour Party Conference in 2002 : 'The former president was brilliant, dazzling, charismatic, seductive and completely shameless. He wooed them all the time. He didn't stop. He cast his eyes down coyly. Then he raised his head, smiled, and looked slowly round the audience, gazing deep into their eyes. He is the Princess Di of the political world.'
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rb9aE8brN4
* was part of BBC Radio 4's 5-part political satire programme 'Cartoons, Lampoons and Buffoons', was a contributor to the 'Grumpy Old Men', wrote for 'Punch' magazine and an occasional column for 'New Humanist' Magazine, was celebrity panelist on the tv antiques quiz show 'Going,Going, Gone' and presented his last edition of 'The News Quiz' in 2006 with : "I'm getting a bit clapped out and jaded and I think that's beginning to show."
* appraised Nick Clegg, Liberal Democrat leader in 2009 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PS0iuYq0M2o
* produced collections of sketches : 'Send Up the Clowns' in 2011 and 'House of Fun' in 2012 but perhaps was always in the shadow of his celebrated and still living father, whose 'The Uses of Literacy' had come to be seen as one of the most influential books of the century, finding that people would say, when he introduced himself : "Hoggart? Are you any relation to Richard?" until it was finally reported to him that someone in an airport, noting the surname on his father's luggage, had asked him if " he was any relation to Simon ?"
* coined the phrase : 'the law of the ridiculous reverse', which states that : 'if the opposite of a statement is plainly absurd, it was not worth making in the first place', which meant, for example,when a self‑important politician boomed "Now is not the time for cowardice!", would counter with : "Just when, is the time for cowardice?"
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* dying from pancreatic cancer, continued to write in November of the latest Government U-turn in November : 'Another day, another U-turn. This is less a government than a dodgem car ride. Sparks fly from the roof. Attendants bellow unintelligibly from the sides. Nominally driving, ministers crash into each other. Sometimes they fling the wheel round and nothing happens.'
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David McKie wrote in the Guardian :
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Michael Fabricant, butt of his wit tweeted : 'Such sad news. He teased me mercilessly but always kindly.'
BBC : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdzH8V5-fP8
An earlier post about Simon :
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