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Michele Hanson, warm, witty and much-loved columnist, dies age 75 Michele Hanson, warm, witty and much-loved columnist, dies age 75
(about 1 hour later)
Tributes have been paid to the Guardian columnist Michele Hanson, who died on Friday.Tributes have been paid to the Guardian columnist Michele Hanson, who died on Friday.
Hanson, 75, whose popular weekly column focused on her “phenomenally full and interesting” life, suffered a stroke and fell into a coma on Thursday lunchtime.Hanson, 75, whose popular weekly column focused on her “phenomenally full and interesting” life, suffered a stroke and fell into a coma on Thursday lunchtime.
She had been out walking her beloved dogs when she complained of a headache before being taken to hospital.She had been out walking her beloved dogs when she complained of a headache before being taken to hospital.
She is survived by her daughter, Amy, 37, whom fans will know better as Treasure, the subject of her mother’s columns for 14 years, which focused on her rebellious teenage years. She is survived by her daughter, Amy, 37, whom fans will know better as Treasure, whose rebellious youth had been the subject of her mother’s columns for 14 years.
Hanson, who had written for the Guardian for more than 30 years, was also the author of several books including What the Grown-ups Were Doing, Treasure: The Trials of a Teenage Terror and Living With Mother.Hanson, who had written for the Guardian for more than 30 years, was also the author of several books including What the Grown-ups Were Doing, Treasure: The Trials of a Teenage Terror and Living With Mother.
The Guardian’s head of features, Kira Cochrane, paid tribute to the columnist, saying she had been “a joy” to edit.The Guardian’s head of features, Kira Cochrane, paid tribute to the columnist, saying she had been “a joy” to edit.
“Her copy always arrived crisp and witty, full of extraordinary stories about her own life, and about the close friends who were testament to her warmth,” she said. “There was a strong political side to even her most personal work. In her columns about teaching, for instance, she brought her firsthand experience to bear on systemic problems, pouring the lessons of her phenomenally full and interesting life into her writing.“Her copy always arrived crisp and witty, full of extraordinary stories about her own life, and about the close friends who were testament to her warmth,” she said. “There was a strong political side to even her most personal work. In her columns about teaching, for instance, she brought her firsthand experience to bear on systemic problems, pouring the lessons of her phenomenally full and interesting life into her writing.
“And she was as brilliant in person as she was on the page. A coffee with Michele always led to her sharing the most incredible – and often unrepeatable – stories. I always came away feeling very lucky that the Guardian was the place where she told all the stories that were fit to print, for her ever-growing army of devoted readers.”“And she was as brilliant in person as she was on the page. A coffee with Michele always led to her sharing the most incredible – and often unrepeatable – stories. I always came away feeling very lucky that the Guardian was the place where she told all the stories that were fit to print, for her ever-growing army of devoted readers.”
With the relaunch of the paper this year, Hanson’s G2 column had been renamed School of Life, and she was looking back at what she had learned from some of the “most eye-opening moments of an eye-opening life”.With the relaunch of the paper this year, Hanson’s G2 column had been renamed School of Life, and she was looking back at what she had learned from some of the “most eye-opening moments of an eye-opening life”.
There was the masterclass in how capitalism works, picked up from her time running a stall on Portobello market; the occasion, as an expectant single mother, when she ran out of an overly-intimate antenatal class; and how, half a century ago, some pigeons, hobbled by nylon thread, had made her aware of the horrors of manmade waste that were to come. There was the masterclass in how capitalism works, picked up from her time running a stall on Portobello market; the occasion, as an expectant single mother, when she ran out of an overly intimate antenatal class; and how, half a century ago, some pigeons, hobbled by nylon thread, had made her aware of the horrors of manmade waste that were to come.
Cochrane added: “I’m so sad we won’t have a chance to hear more of her stories, and so glad she shared so many with us over the years. I’ll miss her as a writer, a columnist, and a friend, as I know her readers will too.” Cochrane added: “I’m so sad we won’t have a chance to hear more of her stories, and so glad she shared so many with us over the years. I’ll miss her as a writer, a columnist and a friend, as I know her readers will, too.”
The writer Ian Whitwham, whom fans will know as Fielding in her columns, also paid tribute to her.The writer Ian Whitwham, whom fans will know as Fielding in her columns, also paid tribute to her.
“Mish was my best and wisest chum for nigh on 40 years,” he said. “We rang each other every day and I always felt perked up by her sparkling wit, inventive blaspheming and relish of the absurd.“Mish was my best and wisest chum for nigh on 40 years,” he said. “We rang each other every day and I always felt perked up by her sparkling wit, inventive blaspheming and relish of the absurd.
“I was lucky enough to feature in her exquisite Guardian columns as ‘Fielding’, which pleased me no end. She couldn’t be dull or earnest, only wise and funny. She murdered pretension.“I was lucky enough to feature in her exquisite Guardian columns as ‘Fielding’, which pleased me no end. She couldn’t be dull or earnest, only wise and funny. She murdered pretension.
“Her philosophy was that ‘in this life you either have to blub or laugh.’ Well, she had the courage of laughter. I can hear her voice now being acutely uncomfortable with these compliments. Well, Mish, there’s nothing you can do now.” He added: “We’ll miss you terribly.” “Her philosophy was that in this life you either have to blub or laugh. Well, she had the courage of laughter. I can hear her voice now being acutely uncomfortable with these compliments. Well, Mish, there’s nothing you can do now.” He added: “We’ll miss you terribly.”
Another friend, Tanya Harrod, said Hanson had been a gifted writer not just of columns and memoirs, but also of short stories, some of which appeared in Vogue in the late 70s. Another friend, Tanya Harrod, said Hanson had been a gifted writer not just of columns and memoirs but also of short stories, some of which appeared in Vogue in the late 70s.
“In her columns for the Guardian we all came to know Michele,” said Harrod. “Anyone lucky enough to be her friend entered an arcane world of nicknames, a passion for 18th-century literature, early music and EastEnders, a desire for a fairer society and a tenderness for animals that meant she put out food for house mice and local foxes.“In her columns for the Guardian we all came to know Michele,” said Harrod. “Anyone lucky enough to be her friend entered an arcane world of nicknames, a passion for 18th-century literature, early music and EastEnders, a desire for a fairer society and a tenderness for animals that meant she put out food for house mice and local foxes.
“Above all, she had a sublime wit that made the most everyday activity – making a cup of coffee for instance – appear curious, ritualised and funny, as if entirely her own invention.” “Above all, she had a sublime wit that made the most everyday activity – making a cup of coffee, for instance – appear curious, ritualised and funny, as if entirely her own invention.”
Hanson’s last column for G2, My parents ate my pet ducks, about animal welfare, was published on Monday. That day she had also written an opinion piece – If it’s a care home for me, bring on the pole dancers – praising the dancers whose performance in a Dorset care home had been widely criticised.Hanson’s last column for G2, My parents ate my pet ducks, about animal welfare, was published on Monday. That day she had also written an opinion piece – If it’s a care home for me, bring on the pole dancers – praising the dancers whose performance in a Dorset care home had been widely criticised.
Hanson’s dogs, who have featured heavily in her columns as well as her book Absolutely Barking: Adventures in Dog Ownership, will be going to live with a friend in the south of France, her daughter confirmed.Hanson’s dogs, who have featured heavily in her columns as well as her book Absolutely Barking: Adventures in Dog Ownership, will be going to live with a friend in the south of France, her daughter confirmed.
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