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Is there anything new I can say to express my love for you? (very long post)

A couple of posts back I mentioned my “most favourite now dead people ever” lists, which mostly reside in my head. With that thought still lurking in my head I came across Time magazine’s people of the century, and the BBC’s somewhat dull 100 Greatest Britons list (though I quite liked the Brunel edition).

So I decided to come up with my list:

“The Almost (but not very) Comprehensive List of Some Very Fine People, Who May or May not be Alive (and some probably aren’t sure themselves)”

There’s 108 of them because I couldn’t knock eight people off. Not without feeling very mean. (Hence the title of the entry). So when I say this entry is long I am not kidding. Some are people you know, some won’t have even blipped your RADAR.  There’s only one who hasn’t got a weblink attached.

Some clarifications. Just because I like someone for something they have done, does not mean that I like everything about them. It does not mean I endorse their political or religious ideology, or lack of therein.  Regular readers can probably make reasonable guesses about what bits of individual personal ideologies I’m not struck on, but for the sake of clarity for lurkers I felt I should add this. So for example though I am a great admirer of Martha Gellhorn’s work and stubborn attitude I do not agree with her vehement distaste for all things (and people) Arabic. Etc.

One other thing to note I have skipped titles in an act of uniformity. Otherwise if I put Prof. X, I’ll have to put Mr Y and that looks a bit silly. Not to mention the minefield that is female titles.

A-C

Douglas Adams
I’m assuming this one doesn’t need much in the way of explanation. Funny. Smart. Should not be dead.
Kate Adie
I nearly drooled on her in awe. She was very polite about it, which suggests it happens often. This isn’t surprising. A modern Martha Gellhorn.
Woody Allen
Though I agree with Fish that some of Allen’s work of late has been, erm, a bit crap he still had to be in the list.  So he’s essentially used the same joke for his whole career, it’s a good joke. It works.
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson
She went through an extraordinary rigmarole to open up another career for women.
W.H.Auden
For someone who doesn’t much like poetry this is one of three poets on my list. Lyrically beautiful, although according to the father of a girl I was at school with, he was grumpy old sod when lurking around Oxford.
Francis Bacon
Offensive to some. Amazing to others.
Josephine Baker
America’s loss was France’s gain. Physical humour in dance doesn’t always work. Particualarly when as attractive as Baker was, but she did so with finesse.
Lucille Ball
Since I first saw ‘I Love Lucy’ when I was about 5 I wanted to be Lucille Ball. Though some of her later work was a little ropey her physical comedy was always spot on. Her dramatic performances were understated, and Desilu studios are responsible for Star Trek. What’s not to love.
Tony Benn
Argumentative, impassioned and brilliant.
Alan Bennett
The first introduction I had to Alan Bennett was his reading of the Pooh stories that I listened to at bedtime. It wasn’t until my teenage years that I started reading his own work, and I’m so glad I did.
Jeremy Bentham
Obviously there are a good number of his philosophical concepts I’m in agreement with, but the other reason Bentham is on this list is for being a dead bloke in a box who sits in on university committee meetings.
Tim Berners-Lee
Although I swear a lot at the internet, and on occasions when I have to twat about with html, I am very grateful that it’s simpler than it might have been. Making the internet accessible to (almost) all makes it possibly more significant a communication device than Caxton’s press. I love it.
Sarah Bernhardt
Beautiful and talented.
Aneurin Bevan
Obvious I hope!
William Beveridge
Ditto.
George Birkbeck
Though in most towns the Mechanics’ Institute now is a place where old ladies take painting classes, they were such an important development, I really do love community education. Before the government targets/funding made FE colleges interested only in teaching people IT*my mother taught community classes and they were fab.
Quentin Blake
The only illustrator whose work I have on a t-shirt. ‘Nuff said.
Lionel Blue
Yes he’s a bit of a wheeled out national treasure on Radio Four but a) I do actually find him funny, and b) He’s a religious leader who has made an effort to work with other faiths. Which is rare, and likable.
Suzanne Bootyman
No link. My school physics teacher who tried very hard to let me be allowed to take A-level physics. She also nabbed a load of magazines about radio waves from her husband for me.
Jeremy Brett
The first famous person to die that I was properly sad about. I know that for Rathbone fans* he’ll never be the proper Sherlock Holmes, but his performance was just perfect to my eyes.
Brian Cant
Brain Cant, king of cool.
Arthur Conan-Doyle
We’ll ignore the talking to dead people and faries thing and concentrate on Holmes. Even without the Brett’s portrayal Holmes is my ultimate fiction hero, so his creator must be here.
Ian Cook
My history teacher. Without knowing it probably one of the most influential men in my life.
Francis Crick
The DNA stuff is given, but his work on neurobiology and consciousness puts him in my 108 people who are cool list.

D-H

Roald Dahl
All children’s books should be this subversive and gruesome.
Simone de Beauvoir
Brilliant, challenging and yet not as threatening as her intellect might have made her.
Geoffrey de Havilland
I love aeroplanes. I love de Havilland’s enthusiasm for aeroplanes.
Tamara de Lempicka
The most beautiful pictures.
Ellen DeGeneres
I notice that some crtics seem to think EDG isn’t as challenging as she should be, that she’s missing opportunities. I think they’re missing the point. She’s a comedian-a very funny one at that-and a chat show host (which is not quite as good as her comedy).
Emily Deschanel
Zooey gets all the press, but Emily is a far better actress.
Frederick Douglass
The first slave narrative that I read and by far an away the most staggering (to me). If we’re going to have mandatory texts for schoolchildren why on earth isn’t Douglass’s text one of them?
Jasper Fforde
The best lit-geek porn ever.
Francis Frith
I love photography. I love social documentary photography in particular. Though not particularly challenging Frith’s project was enormous and frankly amazing.
Elizabeth Fry
Prison reformer and lady on banknote.
Stephen Fry
So obvious is it not.
Graeme Garden
Oddly as well as making me laugh quite a lot I think Garden was quite brave. Going to medical school and then deciding not to practice as a doctor is a pretty big thing-considering the social worth of being a medic as opposed to being funny.
Martha Gellhorn
As mentioned above some of her politics horrify me, but I can’t fault her commitment to the job.
Terry Gilliam
It’s taken me a while to get my head around Gilliam’s work but now I have I realise that he probably is the smartest Python.
John Gurnhill
My school Maths teacher.
Tony Hancock
Obvious I hope.
Kier Hardie
The present Labour Party are by and large a bunch of cunts. Kier Hardie though set up a calmly revolutionary inspirational organisation.
Jeremy Hardy
Witty and angry. Fabulous combination.
Keeley Hawes
I didn’t like her in Spooks. In everything else though, even Tipping the Velvet (which was a bit pants, although I guess I wasn’t getting one of the advantages much of the audience were getting*), she’s fabulous.
Nigel Hawthorne
One of my favourite actors when I was a child.
Hattie Hayridge
She’s funny. She’s Holly. She’s v.cool.
Paul Heaton
I haven’t found a single one of his lyrics that I don’t adore. My favourites are ‘Mini-Correct’, Tattoo’ and ‘Poppy’ which are all on the album ‘Miaow’. Buy now if you don’t already own it.
Lenny Henry
He genuinely seems to love interaction with his audience. I admire his expansion into Shakespeare, though given the bit I saw on television am not sure I want to see it, and his willingness to take a risk of not being the best thing on the stage. Also he actually looks better the older he gets.
Edward Hopper
Just the best pictures of life, aloneness and lonliness.
Zora Neal Houston
If you have not yet read ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’ do. Please. An anthropologist and Harlem Renaissance writer she really was a brilliant woman.

J-N

Edward Jenner
I hope this is obvious.
Sophia Jex-Blake
Followed Garrett-Anderson, but campaigned more vocally.
Amy Johnson
So we established further up the list that I like aeroplanes, well Johnson is my favourite aviatrix. So many of her contemporaries were from wealthy backgrounds. Though well educated for a woman of the 1920s Johnson was middle class, and thus compared to the ladies of leisure quite far down the social scale. Most importantly though, she could fix the ruddy thing when it broke down.
B.S. Johnson
You either love experimental fiction or you don’t. And if you do BS Johnson is one of the best.
Terry Jones
My second favourite Python, but as a director he surpasses his peers.
Danny Kaye
Vaudevillian comedy isn’t always regarded highly these days. It should be though.
Naomi Klein
I can’t say I wholeheartedly agree with all her ideologies, but she is one of the most accessible political writers around today.
Robert Koch
Obvious I would hope.
Hugh Laurie
Funny but a bit odd when he was working with his bestest buddy. As House though he is just fantastic. Seriously they should dispense with all the voting for Emmys and just give them to him.
Lauren Laverne
Kenicke were great. Laverne is intellegent, fiesty and all the kind of things a girl should be.
Nigella Lawson
I love Nigella. I want her to be my next door neighbour.
John Le Mesurier
Considered performances and ability to move perfectly from drama to comedy. The best.
William Lee
This chap may have missed your internal RADAR. He invented the framework knitting machine, which may not mean that much to you, but was one of the most significant inventions in the economic development of the area I live in. Incidental random fact-I once came third in a William Lee celebration lacemaking contest. I can see you’re very impressed.
Mike Leigh
‘Abigail’s Party’ alone would get him on this list. His approach to working though completely makes sense to me, if I was acting I would kill people to get to work with him.
Humphrey Lyttelton
The adorable posh boy of Jazz. The ISIHAC world is a much lesser place without Humph.
Bill Maher
Though I don’t agree with his stance on capital punishment (he is pro), I do think he is genuinely one of the most engaging politcal commentators and comedians. The sort of man you’d invite to dinner just to argue with.
Christopher Marlowe
All Jacobean playwrights come complete with “did they..didn’t they” rumours about authorship. However, for the purposes of my list we’ll assume he did. He did good.
Groucho Marx
A quick poll here. Did any other 7 year old girls do impersonations of Groucho Marx? Why do I suspect the answer is no? Anyway, I just love the man’s style. Comedically speaking.
Geoffrey McGivern
A much underated actor.
Patrick McGoohan
Genius. Just genius.
Jonathan Meades
The best documentaries on, well just about anything. He could, and probably would, do a documentary about green beans and I’d watch it.
Paul Merton
Surreal, brilliant, funny.
John Stewart Mill
Another in the obvious camp.
Jonathan Miller
Ah Sir Dr Jonathan let me count the ways. I have had an intellectalised crush on Miller since I was about 10. When I worked for the Alzheimer’s Society I had his picture blue tacked onto my PC. I am in awe of the man. And I so would.
Ben Miller
The best one in Armstrong and Miller, and a great performer in his own right.
Elizabeth Montgomery
When not busy wanting to be like Lucille Ball occasionally I fantasise that I am as fabulous as Montgomery. Reality can be a bitch y’know.
George Newman
Public health in Britain has this man to thank.

O-Z

Gerard O’Donoghue
He was my ENT consultant when I was 14. Which is jolly good. But more importantly to me, he was the first person to compliment me on my hair colour. Being ginger and wearing glasses does not a fun time for a girl make, but one off-hand compliment gave my confidence the most enormous boost.
Joe Orton
Subversive and dirty. The very best kind of playwright.
George Orwell
Another that I hope is obvious.
Michael Palin
My favorite Python. Probably every old ladies’ favourite Python too.
Sylvia Pankhurst
The most challenging of the Pankhurst women.
Oliver Postgate
Wonderful. I’d suggest anyone not familiar takes a look at Charlie Brooker’s really rather touching tribute from December, which expresses exactly how Postgate’s work should make you feel.
Augustus Welby Pugin
If I’d compiled this list when I was 12 Frank Lloyd Wright would probably have been here instead of Pugin. He is not an architect for those who like minimal, or for the faint hearted. His work is staggeringly beautiful.
Robert Rankin
Surreal fantasy fiction. Far more accessible than Pratchett and, for me, more enjoyable.
Paula Rego
Dark pictures that look innocent and adorable on the surface.
Miranda Richardson
‘Dance with a Stranger’ gave me nightmares for months, but in a really good way. Queenie is nothing short of comic genius.
Michael Rosen
The second poet on the list of a woman who isn’t much for poetry. Hmm. Methinks I’m delusional. Anyway Rosen’s work for children is just fantastic. I am a big fan of children’s literature in general, when it’s as good as this (and Dahl). ‘Sad Book’ is the most beautiful and sad work ever. Do not look at this book if you have just been dumped/have PMT, you will cry for hours.
Oliver Sacks
The reason I developed my long standing crush on Jonathan Miller is thanks to Dr Sacks. ‘The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat’ remains one of my favourite books.
George C. Scott
A scary actor apparently. Brilliant though. He even makes war movies enjoyable for someone who hates the idea of wars.
George Gilbert Scott
St. Pancras station may now have what appears to be a greenhouse tacked onto the back of it, and weird multi-layeredness going on inside. However, it remains one of the most beautiful station hotel buildings ever. And considering some of the competition that’s saying something. I have nearly been run over ever time I’ve been to London staring at St Pancras.
Peter Sellers
Another that I would hope is obvious.
Mack Sennett
Amazing director-producer of slapstick comedy. It may not look smart these days, but really the Keystone films are some of the best around. Though Sennett was mostly focussed on financial benefits he really put film comedy on the map (whatever map that might be).
Dr Seuss
Geisel’s reading books are some of the best first word books. His poetic pieces have a rhythmn that even adults can’t resist, which is exactly how a good children’s book should be.
Martin Sheen
Brilliant actor and committed political activist.
Cindy Sherman
Her photography is awesome, and I mean that in the most literal way.
Nina Simone
The two songs of hers that I could listen to on replay endlessly, but would probably end up in a trance if I did, could not have been so perfectly performed by anyone else. ‘Feeling Good’ and ‘I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel to be Free’ are moving, beautiful and just fucking perfect in equal measure.
Linda Smith
Acerbic, intellegent. Another member of the should not be dead group.
Mark Steel
Another very funny, very angry man. The Mark Steel lectures should be mandatory listening in schools.
Tilda Swinton
I love her acting. I love her personal style (though her clothes would not suit me), and I really admire her willingness to go public with her romantic setup. Which frankly sounds rather perfect.
Mark Thomas
Another accessible political commentator. Brilliant.
Sue Townsend
Most people think of Adrian Mole at Sue Townsend’s name, but there’s much more to her. Her plays manage to deal with challenging issues in a not that challenging way. She’s unlikely ever to be regarded in the same way as other female playwrights like Sarah Kane, but she shouldn’t be dismissed.
Alan Turing
A brilliant man. A sad end.
James Watson
Mapping the human genome is in both parts controversial and essential. Watson’s desire to prevent patents being drawn on a naturally occuring substance speak volumes for his humanity.
James Watt
I’m a steam train geek. How was this man not going to appear on the list.
Frank Whittle
Though Hans von Ohain indpendently developed the jet engine I’m afraid Whittle is the only one on the list because his is the name I grew up knowing. Though Dr Ohain would probably be mylist of 127.
Oscar Wilde
Obvious-surely.
Benjamin Zephaniah
The last on the list is the third poet. Bizarrely I had never heard of Zephaniah until I was 21, and considering I’m meant to be well read the way in which I heard of him is shameful. His name is the name of a ward in Ealing Hospital that I had to send psychiatrists to. After countless poor pronunciations on my part the slightly pompus (but secretly friendly) MHA-administrator at the hospital explained not only how to pronounce Mr Zephaniah’s surname but who he was. I’m very glad he did. His work is rhythmic and wonderful. Juvenile that I am, I have preference for his children’s poetry.

And on your list?

*The already very long entry would be trebled if I completed this train of thought.
*My first boyfriend and I had many an argument about the different Holmes portryals. Is it any wonder I was single for so long after.
*Someone please write a book that involves two hot geeky men getting it on, and then sell it to TV please. Thank you.

Tags: charlie brooker, compliments, elizabeth montgomery, james watt, jonathan miller, kate adie, lucille ball, martha gellhorn, Monty python, oliver postgate, oliver sacks, pugin, st. Pancras station, sue townsend, tilda swinton, top 108, very long, watson and crick, woody allen