Whitely, Peel, Freddie et al

It's struck me in the last couple of days, the unexpected impact that people you never meet can have on your life. It was all brought about by the death of Richard Whitely, presenter of Countdown on Channel 4. Now I'm not a massive Countdown fan because I'm pretty poor at the letters game and never beat the studio contestants at the conundrum. And yet when I've watched it I've always enjoyed it.

The reason for this was that Richard Whitely, with his 'favourite Uncle' persona and warm harmless humour made him a perfect afternoon tv host. So watching his obit on the Channel 4 news unexpectedly moved me to tears. Now I can be a funny bugger in this regard - I can't watch Animal Hospital because it upsets me too much but on other occasions I have no problem absorbing very sad events in a matter-of-fact manner.

The first celebrity death I remember affecting me was Dustin Gee. He was Les Dennis's comedy partner and his death was out of the blue. Sure, other celebs I had known about had died and Gee was never really one of my favourites and yet it really hit me hard.

Later the death of Freddie Mercury devastated me for weeks, but at least I had a long track record as a fan of his music. And last year the death of John Peel was a real body blow. Peel along with Tommy Vance (who also died last year) had provided me with the soundtrack to my teens, a window to new horizons (although despite all this Queen remained my favourite band). I know that when Nelson Mandela dies it will prove to be very upsetting although I will at least be able to console myself with the memory of having seen him in the flesh three times.

So why Whitely? Why a man who I only watched if there was nothing better on? Why should he move me to tears? I guess there is fundamentally an innate sadness when a good person dies before their time. It doesn't really matter who it is because when one of these dies it reminds us of the others. So my tears for Whitely were probably also tears for others we have lost too soon, and miss.

So my thoughts are with Whiteley's family and friends, but they also turn to people like Dick, my boss when I was a kid, to Emma - a girl in my class at school killed in a car crash, and to Stephen my old next door neighbour's son who died in a climbing accident. Next time I have a drink I will raise a glass in a silent toast to all of these and more - Rest In Peace and thanks for everything.