Alastair Cooke
30/03/04 10:26 Media
issues
One of the few times I've written for the Radio Times
- something I'm keen to do more of - I 'wrote' the
piece on Alastair Cooke's retirement a couple of
weeks ago. I put 'wrote' in inverted commas because
what I actually did was to go through a number of his
best broadcasts, select a quote from each and write a
30 word intro, which hardly counts as great
journalism. Nevertheless I was glad to be able to do
something.
I wasn't a great Cooke fan for most of the time he was broadcasting actively. His delivery was just a little too slow for me and given that I normally had it playing on a Sunday morning I wasn't as receptive as I might have been (OK, so I'm not always fully compus mentis at 8.45 on a Sunday).
It was when I started listening - no, really listening - to what he was saying so that I could get some good quotes for the Radio Times that I came to appreciate the quality of what he actually did. I had a strict word count so it was important to be selective, which couldn't be difficult surely? How about that sentence there, I thought - no, hang on, that wouldn't do because then you'd be cutting this bit and losing the sense of the story - oh hang on, then the next bit was pretty uncuttable, and the next really coloured the whole piece...
Quite quickly I became hooked on some of the most eloquent but economical writing that I have ever heard. Good writing is one thing, but when it's from someone who was in the next room when Robert Kennedy was assassinated, when the man witnessed 11/09, when he could comment on the space race from on the spot, it rises above plain writing skill.
Alastair Cooke died this morning aged 95. He'll be missed. Hell, he was already missed after retiring a few weeks ago. He won't be replaced easily. I'm off to buy a CD of him reading so I can listen to some more.
I wasn't a great Cooke fan for most of the time he was broadcasting actively. His delivery was just a little too slow for me and given that I normally had it playing on a Sunday morning I wasn't as receptive as I might have been (OK, so I'm not always fully compus mentis at 8.45 on a Sunday).
It was when I started listening - no, really listening - to what he was saying so that I could get some good quotes for the Radio Times that I came to appreciate the quality of what he actually did. I had a strict word count so it was important to be selective, which couldn't be difficult surely? How about that sentence there, I thought - no, hang on, that wouldn't do because then you'd be cutting this bit and losing the sense of the story - oh hang on, then the next bit was pretty uncuttable, and the next really coloured the whole piece...
Quite quickly I became hooked on some of the most eloquent but economical writing that I have ever heard. Good writing is one thing, but when it's from someone who was in the next room when Robert Kennedy was assassinated, when the man witnessed 11/09, when he could comment on the space race from on the spot, it rises above plain writing skill.
Alastair Cooke died this morning aged 95. He'll be missed. Hell, he was already missed after retiring a few weeks ago. He won't be replaced easily. I'm off to buy a CD of him reading so I can listen to some more.
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