The "which famous person died today" thread

lefty goldblatt said:
Another sad day.

When he did those red button discussions on the BBC, you paid attention. Great watching a fountain of knowledge, rather than the usual gassing of sporting know nowts.
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well he had played the game in both codes so that knowledge came with his past. He got Martin Offiah his big break in league getting him his move to Widnes
 
bluethrunthru said:
Ray French - great and knowledgeable former BBC RL commentator - always a joy to hear his voice RIP

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Personally it is so sad to hear of his passing. I had the good fortune to know Ray French from my schooldays ( a long time ago) up until his days back at St Helens RUFC ( now known as LSH ) when through my work I was able to sponsor a match for a few seasons for which he was very grateful given the cashflow problems for many sporting clubs these days
The press will cover his rugby union/league career as well as his commentating days , quite rightly but there was a lot more to him than that.
Just a few things you probably wont hear in the press :-
He was an English teacher at secondary school & was one of the best teachers in my time there, nobody took liberties in the classroom !!
He was also head of Rugby (union) for many years and organised tours to Canada, Australia ( 6 weeks) & Portugal, the latter 2 I was fortunate to tour on. He raised money for the tours via numerous methods including running "second hand" shops to reduce the costs for parents for the tours. Looking back he put so much time & effort into the school & particularly the rugby I don't know how he managed it all.
As head of rugby his philosophy was to run the ball (kicking was frowned upon ) at a time when rugby union in particular was a kicking game. He coached a first xv (under 18s) that went 55 games without a single try against them, toured Australia unbeaten sometimes playing older team - he was an inspiration /motivator to everyone. The school won the Daily Express rugby team of the year on the back of this in the early 80's beating club/county teams
It was actually on the tour of Australia that he told us that he was taking over the role of BBC rugby league commentator before it was announced. Wish I could have put a bet on it !!
There are so many memories, tales flooding back to me about Ray it would take ages to type out lo --- RIP RAY , thank you so much for everything you did !!
 
Cons Dad said:
Personally it is so sad to hear of his passing. I had the good fortune to know Ray French from my schooldays ( a long time ago) up until his days back at St Helens RUFC ( now known as LSH ) when through my work I was able to sponsor a match for a few seasons for which he was very grateful given the cashflow problems for many sporting clubs these days
The press will cover his rugby union/league career as well as his commentating days , quite rightly but there was a lot more to him than that.
Just a few things you probably wont hear in the press :-
He was an English teacher at secondary school & was one of the best teachers in my time there, nobody took liberties in the classroom !!
He was also head of Rugby (union) for many years and organised tours to Canada, Australia ( 6 weeks) & Portugal, the latter 2 I was fortunate to tour on. He raised money for the tours via numerous methods including running "second hand" shops to reduce the costs for parents for the tours. Looking back he put so much time & effort into the school & particularly the rugby I don't know how he managed it all.
As head of rugby his philosophy was to run the ball (kicking was frowned upon ) at a time when rugby union in particular was a kicking game. He coached a first xv (under 18s) that went 55 games without a single try against them, toured Australia unbeaten sometimes playing older team - he was an inspiration /motivator to everyone. The school won the Daily Express rugby team of the year on the back of this in the early 80's beating club/county teams
It was actually on the tour of Australia that he told us that he was taking over the role of BBC rugby league commentator before it was announced. Wish I could have put a bet on it !!
There are so many memories, tales flooding back to me about Ray it would take ages to type out lo --- RIP RAY , thank you so much for everything you did !!
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Great tribute and it's absolutely fitting that he should be remembered as much for his grass roots work as the higher profile side.
 
TinFoilHat said:

Tom Lehrer
97 isn't a bad age to go.
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If you are too young to remember Tom Lehrer, seek out his tracks. Typically, they were nearly all banned by the BBC. They were devastating social and political satire. He was a classical musician, mathematics scholar and university teacher but his fame rested on those hard hitting lyrics.
RIP Tom Lehrer.
 
KS55 said:
If you are too young to remember Tom Lehrer, seek out his tracks. Typically, they were nearly all banned by the BBC. They were devastating social and political satire. He was a classical musician, mathematics scholar and university teacher but his fame rested on those hard hitting lyrics.
RIP Tom Lehrer.
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Some of the tracks really haven't aged lyrically.
 
Vienna_70 said:
Each to their own.
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Too true but I hated wresting even as a kid, used to be on Saturday afternoons and Wednesday nights, my parents also took us to see it at Butlins when I was abut 10, my mum couldn’t stand it either but my Dad and Sister loved it! Love Boxing though.
 
hammocity said:
Too true but I hated wresting even as a kid, used to be on Saturday afternoons and Wednesday nights, my parents also took us to see it at Butlins when I was abut 10, my mum couldn’t stand it either but my Dad and Sister loved it! Love Boxing though.
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I don’t remember it on Wednesday nights.

Maybe that was a Granada thing, but I loved it on a Saturday afternoon, just before the football results
 
KS55 said:
If you are too young to remember Tom Lehrer, seek out his tracks. Typically, they were nearly all banned by the BBC. They were devastating social and political satire. He was a classical musician, mathematics scholar and university teacher but his fame rested on those hard hitting lyrics.
RIP Tom Lehrer.
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His song on the chemical elements is a thing to behold.
 
KS55 said:
If you are too young to remember Tom Lehrer, seek out his tracks. Typically, they were nearly all banned by the BBC. They were devastating social and political satire. He was a classical musician, mathematics scholar and university teacher but his fame rested on those hard hitting lyrics.
RIP Tom Lehrer.
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You never know Greta Thunberg might take over his mantle and start writing songs about Whales with genital warts ;-)
 
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