It is unlikely that many of you will have heard of George Frew. He was a feature writer on the Oxford Mail when Caroline, my partner, worked there. He later moved to Bristol, in the West of England.
Last month, he died, at the age of 48, from lung cancer; but between diagnosis and his death, he wrote two moving articles. Moving, but never maudlin... there is humour where most of us would have the greatest difficulty finding anything to smile about, let alone laugh. They have little to do with Techsurvivors - other than that he undoubtedly wrote them on a Mac - but we know how many of you appreciate good writing and we felt they deserved a wider audience. I'll let Caroline introduce his work with a message she emailed to colleagues:
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George Frew was a former colleague of mine at the Oxford Mail and a friend. Sadly, George, who had joined the Western Daily Press (Bristol) as features editor, died on Friday, July 11. He was 48.
I will always remember his jokes and his incredible wit - but most of all I will remember him for his superb writing style. People used to buy the Oxford Mail just to read George's articles.
He had been battling against lung cancer, and had penned two moving articles about his illness and how he was coping with it. Less than two weeks ago he received what was to be his last award, when he was named Feature Writer of the Year at the UK Regional Press Awards.
Sadly, he was too ill to collect it himself. The judges said of George, who was born in Scotland: "For his own sake he should know that he won the award for his brilliant writing and not because he is dying."
They added: "This guy wasn't rubbing his sleeve on the window to look in, he was on the inside of that window looking out at us, from his awful childhood to his now imminent death.
"This is the sort of man other entrants would like to interview and write about to win the award."
An introduction is at:
http://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/news/200...30715frew.shtmlUnfortunately the link on that page takes you to the second (April) article first....
The first article, written last October, is at:
http://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/news/200...024george.shtmlThe second is at:
http://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/news/200...30416frew.shtmlBoth go on for several pages, but are well worth the time.
To quote one friend whose opinion I greatly respect:
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I was moved surely to laughter and almost to tears, not even knowing the man.
Highmac
