
Rhys Evans obituary
Rhys Evans, who died on August 29 aged 80 of motor neurone disease, was a genuine polymath. Formally a schoolteacher, he was also an adult education tutor, youth worker, linguist, musician, internationalist, hillwalker, cyclist and gifted writer of poems and stories (which he only shared with very few). He was fluent in German and Spanish, […]

David Garnett obituary
Few people have a detailed grasp of how housing finance works in the UK, across the private market and social housing. My friend David Garnett, who has died aged 77, was not only one of these but had the skill to make a complex subject accessible to students.

Letters: Denis Healey’s depth of knowledge
This letter was in response to the The Guardian’s obituary of Denis Healey. David McKie says that Denis Healey was “formidably equipped” for the job of foreign secretary, despite never getting it. I had an experience in the 1980s that made me draw the same conclusion but which also gave an insight as to why […]

Joss Perry
My son, Joss Perry, who has died suddenly aged 35, was a socialist and Labour party member, and his last job was an administrative one in the NHS. However, his real talent, evident from the number of people who attended his memorial event, was to make friends.

Sarah Webb
In June 2011, Sarah Webb, who has died of cancer aged 49, gave a rousing speech at the national conference of the Chartered Institute of Housing in which she told the housing minister, Grant Shapps, that he needed to “bat for housing within government” and explain to David Cameron why housing matters. She reminded him that […]