Obituary: Ronald Mason
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.May I add a footnote to John Tydeman's most evocative obituary of Ronald Mason [20 January]?, writes Merlin Holland.
In 1989 one of the official Westminster Abbey guides, tired of having to make apologies for the absence of my grandfather Oscar Wilde in Poets' Corner, wrote to Donald Sinden for help.
He in turn got in touch with Ronald, who by then was in retirement and already suffering quite badly from emphysema. Astonished, as he put it to me, by this per-ceived slight on a fellow Irishman, he drew on many years of friendship with leading figures in the literary and theatrical world asking for their support in a proposal to the Dean and Chapter.
The Dean, Michael Mayne, a former Head of Religious Programmes and a colleague of Ronald's, was enthusiastic about including Wilde in the newly commissioned south transept window in time for the centenary of The Importance of Being Earnest.
Without Ronald Mason's taking the initiative, despite his ill-health, Wilde might still be waiting. The ceremony on 14 February 1995 drew the biggest Poets' Corner crowd since Byron's inclusion in the 1960s.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments