OUR FRIEND RONALD BLYTHE CBE DIED YESTERDAY - I NOW HAVE THE PLEASURE OF READING HIS LAST BOOK

So very sad to hear that our wonderful friend Ronald Blythe CBE  - probably the best known and greatest English author, winning countless awards during his one hundred years - died yesterday.  Ronald's work includes Akenfield (a Penguin 20th Century Classic and a feature film), and numerous other titles. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and spent nearly all of his life in his beloved Suffolk. The New York Times enjoyed publishing Ronald's essays and his gardening contributions and stories were classics. 

During the 1970s and '80s, our Brentwood Writers' Circle was honoured when Ronald became our President and often visited us, with return visits to his home in Wormingford. His great friend Eileen Huckbody introduced Ronald to our team at Brentwood and I often had the pleasure of a chat on the telephone.  

Ronald's last book Next to Nature was recently published by John Murray and is a fabulous testament to his extraordinary life and times.