Dick Skellington, 1948-2014.

My friend and colleague, sportsman, actor, writer, photographer and poet. A few months after his death his close friends went to Alghero, Sardinia, and scattered his ashes at sunset in view of the ‘sleeping giant’. He died far too early. 

When I retired in 2004, Dick spoke to me about publishing his poems. It was not until he retired that I became aware of how important his poems had become with a few being successfully published. So, I am fulfilling his wish and justifiably so as I believe his output of nearly 200 poems are important both historically and culturally. His poems cover much about war, and more personally, his twin sister, dementia, sport, politics of course much 'topical' humour. And, let's not forget the Cock and Bull story!

View 50 Poem here

Dick wrote a lot about war and enlivened his poems with a number of live performances. Back in 1999 he published, in Society Matters, No 2 Autumn-Winter 1999-2000, an article entitled: War and the Social Sciences which questioned why war has remained largely unexplored by historians, given its relevance to global issues. The article was accompanied by one written by Professor Arthur Marwick. Dick’s article had as its main heading War Matters superimposed over part of Picasso's vast Guernica painting. Download a PDF here of just the extracted text and here for a copy of the original Society Matters page .

Look out for another 50 or so poems, next year!

View 50 Photos here

Dick and I shared photography at both professional and personal levels. One of his great joys was selecting photos to be included in Society Matters to illustrate articles. This selection of 50 are just a few from around the gardens and places he visited in the UK but more strongly illustrate the love he had of all things Sardinian and in particular the town of Alghero.

View 50 Cartoons here from Society Matters, 2006–2012

My selections, from almost 500, are based on a number of criteria: some are included because the artwork is beautiful, some were chosen because they are as apt today as they were when originated. Some are very Open University related, not surprising as the newspaper went to all 25,000 Social Sciences students once a year, some were Dick’s favourites and some were chosen because they made me laugh!

With very many thanks to the brilliant cartoonists: Catherine Pain and Gary Edwards

John Hunt, September 2020