Rod Liddle, The Spectator’s associate editor, has died at the age of 66.
Rod, who was also a columnist for the Sunday Times and Sun, died at the James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough yesterday evening, following a short illness.
His children, Wilder, Tyler and Emmy, said in a statement: ‘We’re all very saddened and shocked at the sudden passing of our wonderful father. He raised us much as you might imagine, to be inquisitive, brave and always humourous. Even in hospital in the last few weeks, he consistently held the room and never let the awful situation show. He has left a legacy that we are all incredibly proud of, he will always be our guide on how to live an extraordinary life.’
Michael Gove, The Spectator’s editor, said:
Rod Liddle was a journalist of genius. In the tradition of Swift, Cobbett and Orwell, he was a satirist who found society’s most sensitive spots and made merciless fun of our follies. He was always fearless, could be achingly funny and while he had an adamantine core of principle he could also surprise. Because he was original – he thought for himself and never wanted anyone’s approval – he was special and brave.
In person, Rod was kind and gentle. He was an indulgent boss and brilliantly creative editor at the BBC and an always steadfast and generous colleague. He had a deep love of England, of its culture and in particular the common sense of its working class. He was also a master of the written word. He was very much loved by those who knew him. And no words we can summon can capture our loss.
Freddie Sayers, The Spectator’s publisher, said:
Everyone at The Spectator is devastated by the news that our beloved columnist and friend Rod has died. We knew that he had been unwell for some time but had been hoping for a recovery and return to the writing which Spectator readers loved and looked forward to every week. His voice, of course, is irreplaceable: a combination of bravery, originality, fearlessness and laugh-out-loud wit that we will miss deeply in the weeks and years to come.
Former editor of The Spectator, Fraser Nelson said:
Rod Liddle was the greatest satirist since Swift; loved by Spectator readers who he loved back in return. He used humour to get to the heart of subjects that other writers tried and failed to reach for. He once had a two-sentence blog – ‘I heard Owen Jones was on question time last night. Was he any good?’ – that broke records for traffic and reader comments. He enriched and enlivened the lives of hundreds of thousands of readers. There was, and will never be, anyone like him.
Douglas Murray, associate editor of The Spectator, said:
Rod often wrote as though nothing was sacred. In fact, as readers will know, many things were sacred to him, including his faith, his country, his family and more. Underneath his gloriously cavalier exterior was a highly moral, principled roundhead. It was one of the things that gave his writing that unmissable, first-person-you’d-read-in-the-magazine quality: anarchic and moral, hysterically funny and sobering.
At times we would have an informal game between us of who could get a particular word or sentiment into the magazine first. Rod almost always won, and I can think of no writer who made me laugh so much on the page as well in person. Many people will use the word ‘fearless’ to describe him. But I would add the word ‘peerless’ to that. It is hard to think of anyone who wrote with such tremendous effect for so wide an audience.
I have spent the day thinking of many of the times we spent together, sometimes by design, sometimes accidentally as when we discovered we were the only two non-Jews staying at a hotel on the shores of the Galilee. From the moment we saw each other and laughed at the coincidence, all I remember is that we didn’t stop laughing for days.
I recently spoke to him in his hospital bed and at one point while relaying his conditions and speaking of his hope of recovery he described himself as having reached a ‘zen-like state’. ‘I have a sort of “my work here is done” feeling,’ he said. I hope he did feel that. But the rest of us needed him, and will miss him, deeply. I hope he knew that too.
Rod first began writing regularly for The Spectator in October 2002, following his departure as editor of the Today programme. His first column for the magazine, entitled ‘Thought for the Day’, a nod to his previous role, was later rebranded as ‘Liddle Britain’. In the 24 years that followed, he has shocked, delighted and entertained The Spectator’s readers with columns and reviews that have lampooned and satirised the great and not-so-good.
In addition to his writing, Rod was a regular contributor to The Spectator’s podcasts, broadcasts and events. On YouTube, his interviews on politics, the royal family and the media have regularly pulled in hundreds of thousands of viewers. And in 2018, he became one of the few journalists capable of selling out the 2,300-capacity London Palladium as part of a Spectator in-conversation event – a sign of his enduring popularity with our readers.
Read the full list of tributes to Rod here and a compilation of some of his best columns here.
Comments