Olly Emanuel Obituaries

There have been some fine obituaries of Olly Emanuel in the weeks following his death. I was asked to comment for a few of them. What is difficult about that is not wanting my sincere sentiments turn into phrasemaking, feeling hardened into repetition.

• Hannah McGill in The Times:

• Joyce McMillan in The Scotsman

• Neil Cooper in The Herald

• Mark Fisher in The Guardian

• Pauline McLean on BBC Website

• And I was asked to write something for the Writers Guild of Great Britain’s website

I attended his funeral in Dunfermline. It was a beautiful occasion, as happy as one can imagine for such a sad day. There were beautiful readings, lovely songs, testimonials aplenty. In Kirsty Williams’s eulogy at one point his collaborators were asked to stand and say the name of one of his plays (I said ‘Emile Zola’ with others completing ‘Blood’, ‘Sex’, & ‘Money’). The whole thing was intense, emotional, and packed (literally standing room only, which I am sure he would have loved). They did not close the curtains around the coffin, so we were able to go and pay final respects.

Good bye, Olly. xx