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| Sunday Times critic AA Gill dies | Sunday Times critic AA Gill dies |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Sunday Times restaurant critic AA Gill has died, aged 62, three weeks after revealing he had cancer. | Sunday Times restaurant critic AA Gill has died, aged 62, three weeks after revealing he had cancer. |
| The columnist told the newspaper last month that he had been diagnosed with the "full English" of cancers. | The columnist told the newspaper last month that he had been diagnosed with the "full English" of cancers. |
| Gill, who had been having chemotherapy, said that he did not "feel cheated" and had been "very lucky" in his life. | Gill, who had been having chemotherapy, said that he did not "feel cheated" and had been "very lucky" in his life. |
| Sunday Times editor Martin Ivens said Gill had been "a giant among journalists" and "the heart and soul" of the paper he joined in 1993. | |
| The final column by Gill, about coming to terms with his diagnosis, will be featured in tomorrow's Sunday Times. | |
| 'Dazzling and fearless' | |
| In a statement sent to staff on Saturday, Mr Ivens said: "It is with profound sadness that I must tell you that our much-loved colleague Adrian Gill died this morning. | |
| "Adrian was stoical about his illness, but the suddenness of his death has shocked us all." | |
| He added: "He was the heart and soul of the paper. His wit was incomparable, his writing was dazzling and fearless, his intelligence was matched by compassion. | |
| "Adrian was a giant among journalists. He was also our friend. We will miss him." | "Adrian was a giant among journalists. He was also our friend. We will miss him." |
| Writing about his illness in November, Gill said he had "an embarrassment of cancer, the full English. | |
| "There is barely a morsel of offal not included. I have a trucker's gut-buster, gimpy, malevolent, meaty malignancy." | "There is barely a morsel of offal not included. I have a trucker's gut-buster, gimpy, malevolent, meaty malignancy." |
| Writers, broadcasters and journalists have paid tribute to Gill. | Writers, broadcasters and journalists have paid tribute to Gill. |
| Jay Rayner, the broadcaster and writer, tweeted that Gill was a "controversialist" but was also "a kind man and a brilliant writer". | Jay Rayner, the broadcaster and writer, tweeted that Gill was a "controversialist" but was also "a kind man and a brilliant writer". |
| Sunday Times political editor Tim Shipman said Gill had been "the writer who first made me buy the Sunday Times". | |
| "The best of us for 30 years has died. Very sombre mood in the office," he added. | |
| Editor of the Times Literary Supplement, Stig Abell, tweeted that Gill had been "the first journalist I learned to recognise purely from his style". | |
| Financial Times editor Lionel Barber said Gill had been "the king of irreverent critics", while BBC presenter Andrew Neil, a former editor of the Sunday Times, said he was "consumed with sadness". | |
| Neil added: "Hired AA for Sunday Times in 1993. He never forgot what he saw as huge favour. As one of finest writers of our time, he was doing the favour." | Neil added: "Hired AA for Sunday Times in 1993. He never forgot what he saw as huge favour. As one of finest writers of our time, he was doing the favour." |
| While his writing remained popular, Gill's articles often caused controversy. | |
| In October 2009, he described how he had shot a baboon while in Tanzania, prompting outrage from animal rights groups. | |
| In 1998, he described the Welsh as "dark, ugly little trolls" - a comment that was referred to the Commission for Racial Equality - while he once described Rhyl as "a town only a man driving a crane with a demolition ball would visit with a smile". | |
| In a critical review of a Norfolk pub, he referred to the county as the "hernia on the end of England", while in 2006 he upset residents of the Isle of Wight by saying it "smelled of boiled washing". | |
| In 2010, he was censured by the former press watchdog having written a review of Clare Balding's 2010 Britain by Bike TV programme, in which he described her as a "dyke on a bike". | |
| He was also once thrown out of one of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants, along with his dining partner, actress Joan Collins. | |
| Engagement | Engagement |
| Edinburgh-born Gill had overcome dyslexia to forge a career as a writer. | |
| He went to the independent St Christopher School in Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, and studied at the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and the Slade School of Fine Art, in London. | |
| He began his writing career in the 1980s with art reviews for magazines, before writing for Tatler and then the Sunday Times. | |
| His first marriage was to author Cressida Connolly in 1983. He married current Home Secretary Amber Rudd, who was then a venture capitalist, in 1991. | His first marriage was to author Cressida Connolly in 1983. He married current Home Secretary Amber Rudd, who was then a venture capitalist, in 1991. |
| They had two children together but divorced in 1995. | They had two children together but divorced in 1995. |
| Gill's illness had prompted his engagement to his partner of 23 years, Nicola Formby, with whom he also had two children. | Gill's illness had prompted his engagement to his partner of 23 years, Nicola Formby, with whom he also had two children. |
| He said he had been "surprisingly excited" to be getting married to Ms Formby, who he often referred as "The Blonde" in his restaurant reviews. | He said he had been "surprisingly excited" to be getting married to Ms Formby, who he often referred as "The Blonde" in his restaurant reviews. |