Clive James

Skymorials Editorial He married the academic Prue Shaw in 1968, and they had two daughters: Claerwen, a molecular biologist turned painter, and Lucinda, a civil servant and “world expert on CSI: Miami”.

Skymorials Editorial He began writing criticism for literary magazines, before becoming the Observer’s television critic in 1972.

Skymorials Editorial Clive died almost 10 years after his first terminal diagnosis, and one month after he laid down his pen for the last time.

Skymorials Editorial He was born Vivian James but would later change it because of Vivien Leigh's appearance in Gone With the Wind and that his original name would forever be seen as female.

Skymorials Editorial A wisecracking literary phenomenon. A journalist on The Sydney Morning Herald once wrote: "His gift and lasting contribution has been to recognise that mass appeal does not translate into lack of substance."

Skymorials Editorial "Fiction is life with the dull bits left out. Clive James. 24 November 2019,

Skymorials Editorial "When the maple tree in my garden turned to flame in autumn, that would be the end of me”,  James predicted his own imminent demise. In 2014, he published the acclaimed valedictory poem "Japanese Maple", which many took as a sign of his impending death.