Dave Gemmell died in the early hours of this morning, four days before his 58th birthday, following a quadruple heart bypass last week (Monday, July 17). He had seemed to be making a good recovery, though when I spoke to him yesterday at his home he sounded exhausted.  He was struggling to make 500 steps a day as required, and had to “plan ahead to go upstairs”. He had been home for only a couple of days.

His wife Stella found him in his study this morning; it seemed he had been dead for some hours. There will be a post-mortem to find the cause of death, which is not yet known.  Stella rang us at about 10.30am. It was a huge shock.

Dave has been a close friend since the late 60s. When we met he was sports editor at the Acton Gazette, and I was a sub-editor. We went out for an omelette one lunchtime, and after that I frequently went round his flat, which was nearby, to play chess. After losing to him, I was rash enough to say I would never lose to him again. We played constantly until he did beat me, one day on the Broads. He would never play me again.

We kept in touch when I left London to come back to Norfolk, and he eventually moved down to Hastings. We met intermittently. He rose high in the newspaper world until he reached a crisis when he thought he had cancer and wrote a book about it – a fantasy book, which turned out to be a best-seller called Legend. It was the first of well over 20 books in the heroic fantasy mould, and he was a wonderful writer in any genre – especially good at characterisation and the poignant twist.

This brought him a certain amount of wealth, with which he was extremely generous to relatives and friends. He was a big man and a larger-than-life figure to whom you could listen for hours. He was a natural storyteller.

Recently he remarried and moved to a beautiful house in Sussex which we visited on three or four occasions. He had not been really well for a long time and hoped for a rejuvenated life after his operation. I shall miss him hugely. So will many, many other people.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5224868.stm

I believe this is a picture of my wife’s great-great grandfather. Or to put it another way, my grandchildren’s great-great-great-great grandfather. His name is James Myhill, and he was born in 1851, maybe at North Walsham. I have this on the authority of no less a figure than my wife’s aunt Ethel, the only survivor of her generation of the Beales family.

The hot weather continues. Today we had lunch at Park Farm, and yesterday we had our jabs for South Africa – diphtheria, typhoid, polio and tetanus. Don’t feel too bad, considering.

Great news from Wellington Hospital yesterday. G’s bypass operation went very well, and he even got out of bed briefly, which totally amazed me. I spoke to S, who was at the hospital, and she seemed very upbeat. Want to keep ringing to check, but I guess you can overdo that sort of thing, especially when you’re not a relative.

Last night the Tuesday group ate al fresco – chicken and banana korma. Balmy evening – so much so that even I enjoyed being outside.

Turning out to be a month of ups and downs. Had a great birthday with Dot at Dunston Hall, and this weekend with David, Vicky and the grandchildren was wonderful. Took them up to a fair on Chapelfield Gardens yesterday, and today we joined in the annual church “pilgrimage” to Waxham. The weather was perfect – warm but with a cooling breeze – and Oliver and Amy had fun in the sea, followed by a barbecue. Oliver is turning out to be a good little footballer, especially his tackling. His tractor-driving is top-class, too. He gets all the reversing angles right!

The downs? Well, farewell to Dot’s aunt Evelyn, and now one of my closest friends – probably the closest over the years – has to have a quadruple heart bypass operation tomorrow. Spoke to him just now in hospital, and he’s obviously worried, not only for himself but for his wife. He’s very resilient and a fighter, so he has a good chance, but so many things can go wrong.

The picture is of Dot at Blakeney, looking out to sea.  Evocative.

This is a not very good reproduction of a picture of Dot’s mother (right) and her two sisters, taken at Evelyn’s home, Meadow Farm, Buck Brigg. The funeral for Evelyn (left) is next Tuesday at Erpingham Church. Erpingham is best known as the village where the school once had a head teacher called Wyatt Earp. No, really.

We shall be taking Ethel, the surviving sister in the picture, to the funeral.

Last night Dot and I went with Anne and Philip Robinson on a treasure trail round Norwich, starting and ending at By Appointment. Punch at beginning, canapes in the middle (Chapelfield Gardens) and meal at the end, which turned out to be the wrong side of 9pm after a 7pm start. Philip was flagging a bit, but we were still the second group back. Got most of the clues, but didn’t win. Not sure why. I suspect a fix. Lovely warmish evening.

Another death, announced in the EDP today: Paul Blake, a teacher of mine at the City of Norwich School, who gave me a lot of encouragement in my cricket (off-break bowling) and especially chess. He gave a huge amount of his time to organising and transporting the all-conquering CNS chess team in the early 1960s, and probably if it were not for him I would never have got involved in club and county chess, which has given me huge amounts of pleasure (as well as a little agony).

 Mr Blake was a member of the United Reformed Church on Ipswich Road, Norwich,  and I met him again in the early 90s when he was involved in speaking to the Christian group at Cedar House, Albemarle Road, where my mother lived at the time. He was a gentle, caring man who did a lot of unsung good.

Among those still living, it’s quite remarkable that four friends all have birthdays on July 4 or July 5 – Joan Brown and Liz Day (4) and Anita Carey and my god-daughter Holly Henderson (5). Clearly get on well with fellow-Cancers!

Dot’s Aunt Evelyn died at 1am today in North Walsham Hospital. She was 90 and had never retired, working for her son Peter at his Buck Brigg nurseries right into the end of her 80s, though she had been quite ill for the last year or so. She lived with her daughter Rosemary in a delightful spot in North Norfolk.

The picture shows Evelyn on her mother’s lap. The other two children are Georgie, who died aged about six; and John, who died in the Far East during the second world war.

The weather has been very hot the last few days, slowing everyone down. But this morning (before she received the news) Dot was out playing pitch and putt witha friend. This evening it seems that a thunderstorm might be brewing. Caddington has already had a severe storm.

This is taken from my mother-in-law’s small album of family pictures. It shows Bertie and Emma Cousens, my wife’s grandparents, with Dot’s mother (front) and father (at back). Also in the picture (we think) is Dot’s aunt Jessie. The picture would have been taken some time during the war – probably about 1943.

Had a great weekend at Blakeney with the Evetts, Towns and Maureen. Pauline was ill, so she and Gordon couldn’t come, unfortunately. Weather was pleasant, and Dave, Julia, Dot and I  walked from Burnham Overy Staithe to Holkham (after leaving a car at Holkham). Peaceful on the beach – hardly anyone about. After discussion, worked out the sequence of reunions so far: 2000 Old Sodbury, 2001 Blakeney, 2002 Blakeney, 2003 Old Sodbury, 2004 Blakeney, 2005 Ludlow, 2006 Blakeney. After the walk spent some time at Holkham pottery – gallery and cafe. New wine cellar and kitchen shop. Dave eventually decided against grand cru priced at £135 a bottle.

On the way home Dot and I called in at Big Blue Sky – a terrific gallery / shop on the outskirts of Wells selling only Norfolk things. Dot bought an unusual mirror for the landing. She has been busy in the garden for the last two or three days, but took Joyce to hospital this afternoon.

Played a really good game of chess on Monday to beat Dave Hall (graded 169) and finish the June Swiss on 3/4. Joint runner-up but failed to take the runner-up cup on tie-break. Never mind: good tournament (+2 – 0 = 2)

A lovely picture of my father-in-law, Oliver Cousens, discovered in a small album kept by his wife.

Midsummer is gone, and the nights don’t look any different really. Today is still quite close, but also windy and so not all that pleasant. This morning I went into the city for an eye test. Everything was well – so no explanation for why my tears burn like acid.

Dropped in at a revamped Prospect House, where the editorial floor looks quite smooth but has obvious defects, like no privacy, which is needed in a newspaper office – and most offices. Plenty of glass and carpets, except for the back stairs, which are as bare and unpleasant as they always were. Had a substantial conversation with Bernadette about Jules’ shorthand. She is in a corner with no door – rather sad.

Dot is at a garden centre, buying stuff for hanging baskets. I like to say that garden centres are like caravans and dogs – things the world would be much better without – but I am mellowing towards them. That doesn’t mean I would go to one voluntarily, though.

Here we are back in 1982, towards the end of our time at Holly Bank, Yelverton. David is about 10, and we’re about 37.

In 2006, it’s the longest and lightest day – still summery, though a bit cooler. Dot has been to London for a couple of days with Nafpht friends, and the clearing up goes on. I sorted out about 500 chess magazines and miscellaneous other stuff, among which I found my certificate qualifying me to be an assessor/verifier for NVQs. Just as well: if I’d been asked to produce it in the last three or four years, I’d have been in real trouble. Now, where did I put it??!

The World Cup grinds on, with occasional scintillating moments. Today Mexico were done out of a win over Portugal by the referee and some appalling finishing. Yesterday Michael Owen managed to injure himself within a minute by simply falling over – couldn’t suppress a sigh of relief, as he’d been playing so badly. Two superb goals by  J Cole (especially) and Gerrard, but amazingly the defence collapse and conceded two. Still, we won the group. Can’t understand why anyone thinks Ashley Cole is a good player. Beckham was also very average, and Lampard below par for him. Rooney livened things up without being fully fit.

One wonders exactly what it would take for Sven to bring Walcott on. Injuries to absolutely everyone else?

This is my cousin Ruth, eldest of Reg and Dorothy’s children. I am still in contact with her, now and again.

Now well into the World Cup, and today England play again, so we have the usual collection of loud-mouthed drunks on television who use the occasion as an excuse to parade their oafishness. In this case they were doing it outside the hotel where their “heroes” were trying to sleep, thus ensuring that they were well prepared for today’s match.

Should be interesting, although England were extremely uninspiring in their win against Paraguay. Nothing really exciting yet – too many teams happy to score, sit back and win 1-0. Usually they get away with it, which is why it was so good to see Australia score three in the last six minutes to beat Japan 3-1.

Yesterday Dot and I went to the Aldeburgh Festival at Snape, calling in at her old school on the way, as well as dropping on Julia and Allan. After a heatwave, weather has turned cool again, but Snape was beautiful as ever. We had a light meal (jacket potatoes) in the Oyster Bar, where we met Peter Anderson, former EDP sub – he left in 1988. The performance by the Britten-Pears Baroque Orchestra was excellent, especially the first half, where they played The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba and another piece by Handel. In the second half they lost the woodwind (two oboes and a bassoon) , which was a pity, but they ended with a superb concerto by Geminiani, who I’d never heard of. There was also a lovely oboe solo by Bach (not in person).

The drive home was marred by the usual suspects – people who think 45mph is the ideal speed for a good quality A-road, and other people who won’t overtake them. Home about 10.40pm.