Jonathan Miller - d. November 27th 2019

In opera, a man sings
when he dies, songs
of the lonely body, long 
Godless nights, songs sung
for those that do not flinch
at complicated things, songs
that live beyond the fringe. 

read about Jonathan Miller here

Clive James - d. November 24th 2019

I learned the value of everything
from you, most human of beings,
how to observe the crystal bucket,
not just watching, but seeing.

read about Clive James here

Andrea Newman - d. November 9th 2019

Oh, the lessons I learned:
from you: the joy of lust,
the tragedy of guilt, the 
rightness in the wrong.
625 lines, all dripping
with forbidden fruit.

Read about Andrea Newman here

Raymond Poulidor - d. November 13th 2019

The air is thinning, crowds
parting. At last, your wheel
leads all, a breakaway none 
could ever catch, in a jersey
only you could ever wear.

read about Raymond Poulidor here

Alison Prince - d. 12th October 2019

Write
Write
Fragments of light
Ring those
Town Hall
Chimes

Tell
Tell
Stories that spell
How we're 
Changed by
Time

Read about Alison Prince here

Alexei Leonov - d. October 11th 2019

Step again
from the tin can
into the stillness
of low earth orbit.
This time, though,
the hatch clangs
behind you, and
even these words
are weightless.

Read about Alexei Leonov here

Stephen Moore - d. October 4th 2019

I think you ought to know
I’m very depressed. I mean,
the dullness of stars is all so
predictable, each death scene
a tedious inevitability. Life?
Don’t talk to me about life.

Read about Stephen Moore here

Ginger Baker - d. October 6th 2019

They set fire to your kit today,
skins peeling, burning birch.
You confronted the ashes, 
flailing, primal, murder 
in your eyes. Condition: blue, 
waiting for the bringdown.

Read about Ginger Baker here

Peter Sissons - d. October 1st 2019

The air vibrates
in sympathy to the day,
to the receding storm of news.
The viewer waits
for you to pause, and say
Newsnight is starting on BBC2

Read about Peter Sissons here

Jessye Norman - d. September 30th 2019

Now we shall sing
your four last songs:
The Grand Mansion;
Ariadne Released;
The Untamed Falcon;
Faster. Higher. Stronger. 

Read about Jessye Norman here

Ric Ocasek - d. September 15th 2019

Oh, rock'n'roll,
you never paid attention
to my dreams,
but sometimes 
you broke down
and a voice
jumped out of the mix
to say Let's Go.

Read more about Ric Ocasek here

Terrance Dicks - d. August 29th 2019

Into the box, you wrote -
not pine and brass
but blue and windowed,
wheezing, groaning,
forever materialising 
in the eyes of children
grown, if not grown up.

Read about Terrance Dicks here

Peter Fonda - d. August 16th 2019

Come, angels, shine 

down the chrome forks

of your wingéd chariots.

Today we take the baddest 

trip, ride the two-lane 

blacktop side-by-side

with Captain America.

read about Peter Fonda here

Sheila Steafel - d. August 23rd 2019

From the age of gold
comes a crowd of one,
each a study in scatty, 
nimble as a gang of fleas, 
stealing the scenes
before you even knew
they were gone.

Read about Sheila Steafel here

Toni Morrison - d. August 5th 2019

Your beloved stories,
the known and unknown,
must be written again.
Rest in power, glory
in what you made your own:
the humanity of the pen.

Read about Toni Morrison here

D. A. Pennebaker - d. August 1st 2019

Legends demand posterity,
a living camera to frame
genius beyond celebrity.
Broadway, Monterey, Eternity, 
finally, a direction home.

Read about D. A. Pennebaker here

Barrington Pheloung - d. August 1st 2019

-- ..- ... .. -.-. 
.. ...  
- .... .  
..- -. -... .-. . .- -.- .- -... .-.. .  
-.-. --- -.. .  
--- ..-.  
- .... .  
--. --- -.. ...



Read about Barrington Pheloung here

...and if your Morse is rusty try here

Rutger Hauer - d. July 19th 2019

It’s not an easy thing,
to meet your maker, 
but tell them this:
it is not the memories
of rain that remain. 
It is the tears.

Read about Rutger Hauer here

Chris Kraft - d. July 22nd 2019

Your life was mission: 

moonrise to moonfall, 

a minute hand ticking

from shift to shift, 

the engineer's pulse,

the moments to orbit.

Now the capsule passes

far downrange, beyond 

the business of the skies.

Read about Chris Kraft here

Johnny Clegg - d. July 16th 2019

Between the township
and the veldt, at the foot
of the rainbow, they keep 
a place for you, among 
the scatterlings, the 
universal men, back
with the umdeni again.

Read about Johnny Clegg here