realthog: (Default)
realthog ([personal profile] realthog) wrote2009-10-19 11:21 am
Entry tags:

this hurts


From the Beeb:

Author Ludovic Kennedy dies at 89


The author, broadcaster and campaigner Sir Ludovic Kennedy has died aged 89.

A former BBC Panorama journalist, Sir Ludovic spent decades investigating miscarriages of justice, including the case of the Birmingham Six.

He contributed to the abolition of the death penalty and was also president of the Voluntary Euthanasia Society. [. . .]

Edinburgh-born Sir Ludovic was a prominent supporter of the British Humanist Association (BHA) and chief executive Hanne Stinson paid tribute to him.

"Sir Ludovic was a stalwart supporter of the BHA and a progressive campaigner on many fronts. He will be sorely missed," she said. [. . .]

His most famous book, 10 Rillington Place, caused a national outcry when it argued that another executed man, Timothy Evans, did not murder his baby daughter.

Sir Ludovic maintained that the serial killer John Christie was responsible, and after a police inquiry, Evans was granted a posthumous pardon in 1970.
[. . .]

I didn't agree with "Ludo" on everything, but he always struck me as one of the most decent human beings you could ever hope to find. We're all poorer for his loss.

[identity profile] ogre-san.livejournal.com 2009-10-19 03:38 pm (UTC)(link)
He sounds like a man who hated injustice, and it's always a great loss when one of those leave this world.

[identity profile] hutch0.livejournal.com 2009-10-19 09:33 pm (UTC)(link)
Agreed. A sad loss.