The poet Christopher Logue has been working on his version of Homer’s Iliad since the early 1960s and he is still writing the final volume of War Music. Instalments have been published, sometimes decades apart, and in 2001 the story so far was collected into one volume. Last year he won the Whitbread Poetry Award for his collection Cold Calls. The patience of his publisher, Faber & Faber, will give hope to many authors struggling with an overdue manuscript. For years he edited Pseuds Corner for Private Eye and acted in several Ken Russell films. He also wrote the screenplay for Russell’s Savage Messiah. Christopher Logue is 80 today. RGT
John Cole, political editor of the BBC, 1981-92, 79; Michael Gough, actor, 89; Sir John Hermon, Chief Constable of the RUC, 1980-89, 78; the Most Rev Patrick Kelly, Archbishop of Liverpool, 68; Alan Mullery, Tottenham Hotspur and England footballer, 65; Julian Oxley, director-general of the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, 1989-96, 68; Krzysztof Penderecki, composer, 73; Lord Prosser, a Senator of the College of Justice in Scotland, 1986-2001, 72; Diana Quick, actress, 60; Professor John Tarn, Pro Vice-Chancellor of Liverpool University, 1988-91 and 1994-99, 72; Lieutenant-Colonel George West, comptroller of the Lord Chamberlain’s Office, 1987-90, 69.