And the Personality of the week is…

Once again it has been some time since the last episode of Personality of the week hit the café Lumiere headlines. It is back for another episode now and I think you will be pleased with this week’s choice, it is the antidote to Eurovision its…..

Lord W. F. Deedes, aka ‘Dear Bill’.

W. F. Deedes is quite a remarkable man and here is why…

Born on the fringes of the extremely wealthy and influential in 1913 Deedes was brought up in Saltwood Castle Kent and educated at Harrow until the age of 17. Owing to the 1929 financial depression, however, his father suffered very severe money problems; and young William’s promising academic career was cut short before he could attend university.

He became a journalist in 1931, writing first for the Morning Post and after 1937 the Daily Telegraph, for which he still writes today – yes, you did read that correctly, he is still active!

During world war two he fought with distinction and gained the military cross. After the war, he served as minister under Churchill and Macmillan before leaving politics (at least in Parliament) in 1974. After that he was editor of the Telegraph 1974-1986 when he also developed a friendship with the late Denis Thatcher, husband of the prime minister. Private Eye, during the 1980s, ran a famous column entitled ‘dear Bill’ which satirised the relationship between these two eccentric men.

Deedes was made a life peer in 1986, but that has not slowed him down, it would seem. He has appeared on Have I got news for you (twice) and continues to write and work for the abolition of Land Mines.

He family also takes it lead from him. His son, Jeremy Deedes, is a director of the Telegraph Group.

One of my favourite things about W.F. Deedes, is that he is a link with an age that is almost out of living memory. When I read his short book ‘brief lives’ it was quite incredible to realise that he actually met the people detailed in the book – who included Stanley Baldwin, Princess Diana whilst also surviving them to be able to write in a meaningful way about their legacy or some aspect of their personalities that has been largely missed . In his autobiography, ‘Dear Bill: a memoir’ one received a sense of the extremely sharp mind, yet humane soul that is at work in Deedes.

He reported alongside the young Evelyn Waugh in Abyssinia in 1936. It is sometimes claimed that ‘Boot’ the journalist in Waugh’s Scoop is the young Deedes. It should be noted though, that Bill Deedes has always denied this; saying only that there are ‘passing similarities’. I am not sure he has convinced me on that point.

Nevertheless, his writing continues to impress and inspire me. He is a fine example of Britishness and manhood.

Lord Deedes, a free coffee awaits you!