A man of words right to the end

Tribute to popular journalist

was up to, and as we got to know each other I found him a source of encouragement, even inspiration.

“He couldn’t offer me a cure. His palliative options were limited. He was candid about the outlook. But I had a book to finish, and he was going to help me to finish it. An intriguing question arose: could writing help to prolong my life?

“I felt physically wretched a lot of the time. I was no longer eating much and there were days when I managed no more than a couple of self- pitying paragraphs. The book was now going nowhere, stalled.

“But Dr Gillen was persistent. He advised me to take a little dry sherry in the early evening, reckoning this might stimulate my appetite.

“It did – for the soft blue French cheese I’d always loved.

“My room became known as one- man party central, the sherry sipped from a glass that had belonged to nurse Hazel’s granny, the cheese nibbled from saucers or paper tissues while I went on typing against an unknown deadline.

“One of my nurses, Anne, introduced me to a delicacy of charcoal cheddar, which was meltingly delicious.

“The book currently runs to 43,000 words, written and roughly subbed in just over three weeks. It is emotionally honest, I hope it’s even funny in places, and it is publishable as it stands.

“It only lacks a conclusion, and I don’t have one, I’m still working on it in my head.

“I have to be open to the possibility that I’ll never get that far. I take no hour for granted.”

I had a book to finish… and Dr Gillen was going to help me finish it