It is with great sadness that I confirm the death of Jim Clark after a long and
courageous battle against prostate cancer. He passed away quietly late in the evening
of Monday, June 23rd, at St Benedict’s Hospice, Ryhope, with his family at his bedside.
Jim represented us in the Echo Quiz League under our various guises as the
Rosedene, Belford House, and latterly the Ashbrooke Sports club for over forty years
during which he became a very strong player for us and was recognised in the wider
context as an extremely good quiz player.
Although he enjoyed the competition very much the quiz never became more than a
social occasion for him. He never tried to learn lists but he read widely and wisely to
increase his knowledge. When he took early retirement he enrolled on examination
courses at the Sixth Form College studying Law, History, Astronomy and English
Literature among others.
Jim’s areas of excellence were many: we relaxed every time a question was asked
on American politics, films ,the world wars and, of course, Scottish football. He was,
perhaps, the most diffident in our team in arguing for his answer in our conferrals.
Consequently I was inclined to go for his answer whenever he expressed confidence in
it. He was popular with everybody as they recognised his integrity. Whatever the result
he was gracious in victory and generous in defeat. He told me how much he had enjoyed
appearing on Eggheads. We shall miss him immensely.
His funeral is on Wednesday, July 2nd at 10.45am at St Nicholas’s Church and the
crematorium at 11.30am.
Bill Eddy.
When Chris’s email headed Jim Clark arrived, I knew what it would say without opening
it. I suspect we all did. And on an overcast day made all the more miserable, thoughts
and memories swirled.
Foremost perhaps was the day I joined Jim and others on a train trip to London, to
record Eggheads. As one can readily imagine, the banter and tales recounted by a squad
comprising Messrs Eddy, Shearer, Clark, Taylor and Brewis was endless. On a day of
highlights, the fondest memory I have is of Jim negotiating the purchase of an
enormous bottle of ‘champagne’ for the triumphant journey homeward. The shopkeeper
never stood a chance. Safely ensconced in a sardined carriage, we decided to celebrate
at a point somewhere north of Potters Bar. My abiding memory of that foolish impulse
was watching the uncorked plonk bounce off the ceiling while Jim and Dave tried in vain
to rescue the situation by catching what they could in plastic carrier bags.
Of course, we’ve all been in Jim’s company during our regular Wednesday night quizzing
forays. Those who played in the days when individual questions were asked will know
for certain what a formidable player Jim was. This never waned with team questions
since you knew that when Jim got involved in deliberations, two points weren’t far
behind, nor was the destination of the now familiar ‘Ashbrooke 20p’. Above all else
though, Jim was a joiner-in. He would always be near the front of volunteers for quiz
matches, be it against York or other challenge games around the area and anyone
drawn alongside Jim knew they had a good chance of winning. I’m not really sure how it
came about but I recall Jim joining me, my wife and Chris Brewis in a ‘four-man’ team
that took on and beat a number of strong teams in a heat held in South Shields.
Needless to say Jim contributed his bit, and more besides.
Quiz people are a funny bunch, with facts frequently to the fore. But I didn’t know when
Jim’s birthday was or where he was educated; I never knew his phone number, I don’t
know if he had children or drove a car. Could he swim; did he ever have a dog; did he
prefer Merlot or Shiraz; crime or science fiction; jazz or blues? On that basis I never
knew Jim Clark, but I knew him well enough. Jim Clark was a very nice man.
Tony Gold
Sunderland Quiz League
The Quiz League, and the Museum Vaults team in particular, were sad and shocked to hear
of the unexpected death of Denis Cowell.
Although Denis was 83 his death came as a complete shock because he looked so young.
Indeed when his daughter Annette went to collect him from an appointment at the Royal
Hospital the nurse said: "This can't be Denis Cowell, it says here he's 83."
Denis, Mike McClennan and myself all started in the League on the same night in
September 1979 playing for the Echo B team, which was based at the Echo canteen at
Pennywell. With the help of George Johnston and Bob Horn, who also died this year, we
finished second in our first season, mainly thanks to George, who was also playing for the
first time after setting the questions for many years.
Denis, who was always a moderate drinker, used to drive us all over Wearside to home and
away matches, something than continued over many years as the Echo team left the
canteen and went to play in a series of venues that included The Jacobean Club, the King's
Arms, The National Reserve Club, the Saltgrass and finally the Museum Vaults where he
was part of the team that won the League three years' running from 2005 to 2007. During
this time he never complained about doing all the driving, something as young lads in our
20s we really didn't appreciate, though we did appreciate not having to pay for taxis.
As we played longer in the League and got to know other players we realised that Denis
knew about half of them as he'd taught them all at the Bede. One story sums up his
amazing calmness and patience.
We lost a final, where the questions were set by a former pupil which turned on a question
about a geological period, which Denis surprisingly got wrong. Rather than moan and
complain he just said to us in the car going home: "Well, that's what it was in the lesson
when I taught him."
Chris Brewis
Bob Horn, who played for the Echo team in the late 70s and 80s and latterly for the
Hastings Hill is presumed dead after falling off a cruise ship off South America on the night
of January 30/31st. Bob, who was 69, was part of the Echo B team, which finished as
runners-up in 1979/80 and part of the Hastings Hill team who won the inaugural Gowan
Scott Memorial Trophy in 2007.
Hastings Hill team mate Gary Dixon has written this personal reflection:
Bobby was one of my closest friends for the last 30 years and it was always a pleasure to
be in his company. Some of my fondest memories are of spending time with Bobby at local
quizzes; he was particularly knowledgeable about literature and shipping, but we shared
an interest in sport (particularly football and cricket) and comedy, which is a good
combination when you are a Sunderland supporter!
He had a love of travel and was well known for his quick wit. Bob’s love of language was
always plain to see, whether he was writing a quiz answer in the Cyrillic alphabet or
learning Portuguese for a trip to the Iberian Peninsula. He was a great storyteller, both in
his work as a reporter and with his friends over a pint. It was an honour and a privilege to
be his friend and he will be greatly missed by all of us for the rest of our lives.
Jim Clark
14/5/1939 - 23/6/2014
Denis Cowell
Bob Horn
KEITH MARSHALL – MEMORIES
Although his death was not unexpected, I was still taken aback when Mike Foden
telephoned me to tell me that Keith had died.
The great thing was that he continued quizzing almost to the end which, I think, says so
much about Keith. After his family, anything to do with quizzing was his great love.
Keith was not a “geeky” quizzer like many but enjoyed the craic and fun as much as the
competition.
I’ve lost count of the number of times we roomed together when making overnight stays at
Grand Prix quizzes. I felt as though we were Morecambe and Wise sharing anecdotes about
our lives prior to first meeting via the quiz circuit and Keith was Eric to my Ernie.
By his own admission, Keith was no Kevin Ashman nor Pat Gibson but he enjoyed the 90
minute monthly examination fully and I was so chuffed for him that in March he scored
over one hundred for the first time (a score of 85 would be a credit in an exam!). But I
know that most of all Keith enjoyed the company and could make friends virtually
instantaneously such was his character.
Throughout his illness he was never self pitying which I consider says so much about the
man.
I’ll miss our monthly road trips to Edinburgh or Grimsby where the same old stories were
regaled and Barry Howbridge tried to fill us with facts which we would invariably forget
when the quiz started.
Keith was the most generous of opponents and I’ll miss his culinary skills at Quiz League
presentation evenings.
I’ll miss Keith’s company a lot but the memories of him will never go away.
Dave Taylor
KEITH MARSHALL
