Sad news last night of the death of Paul Torday. He was my guest for a Cornflower in conversation feature a couple of years ago, and we spoke on the phone for that interview and had a lovely talk about books and writing, dogs and fishing. I've read several of his novels (this one, for example) and enjoyed them all very much indeed, though if I had to pick a favourite it would probably be that for which he is best known, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Paul Torday struck me as a reserved gentleman who was perhaps less than fully comfortable with the public side of fame, but as this article explains, there were two driving forces behind his writing, and now that I know that illness was one of them, I appreciate even more his giving me his time and graciously answering my questions.
