Mervyn Stockwood: A Lonely Life

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Arnold Bennett, English novelist (Anna of the Five Towns), born in Hanley, Staffordshire, England (d. 1931) Caspar Schoppe, German scholar and controversialist, born in Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz, Germany (d. 1649) Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Volkov, Soviet cosmonaut (Soyuz TM-8, T-14, TM-7), born in Horlivka, Ukraine, Soviet Union Yet, somehow, as Kirker prepares to hand over the running of the LGCM to his deputy, Reverend Sharon Ferguson, he remains hopeful. “When I began this job 30 years ago, my instinct was that it was more than a lifetime’s work. I was never motivated by the belief that we would be able to achieve everything by the time I retired.

Branko Oblak, Slovenian soccer midfielder (46 caps Yugoslavia; NK Olimpija, Hajduk Split, Schalke 04, Bayern Munich) and manager (Slovenia 2004-06), born in Ljubljana, Slovenia Conrad Elvehjem, American biochemist and nutrition scientist (discovered niacin), born in McFarland, Wisconsin (d. 1962) Some of us who reported on the campaign suspected that the knowledgeable Kirker – “Richard knows where all the condoms are buried,” said one of his friends recently – was supporting it from the sidelines. He would not admit it at the time, but now he is breaking his silence to do so here.James Wilson, American criminologist ('Zero Tolerance' policing), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 2012) Edward) "Ted" Rogers, Canadian entrepreneur (Rogers Communications), MLB team owner (Toronto Blue Jays), and philanthropist, born in Toronto, Ontario (d. 2008) After six years as a diocesan, Montefiore obtained a seat in the House of Lords, an event somewhat marred by a terrifying domestic mishap; alighting from the underground at Westminster, his wife, Elisabeth, slipped and fell beneath the carriage, the first sign of the onset of her Alzheimer's disease. Nathaniel Gorham, American politician (6th President of the Confederation Congress), born in Charlestown, Massachusetts (d. 1796)

But there is little doubt that had he attained the highest office, the bitter debates about, for example, homosexual clergy, might have been deftly disposed of, and much other extraneous, time-wasting matter swept from the general synod's agenda. Pleun Strik, Dutch soccer defender (8 caps, FIFA World Cup 1974 runner-up; PSV Eindhoven 270 games), born in Rotterdam, Netherlands (d. 2022)

Norma Jean Almodovar, American author (Cop to Call Girl) and sex worker activist, born in Binghampton, New York Jeffrey Bernard, British writer (Spectator Magazine - Low Life), born in Hampstead, london (d. 1997) An even more traumatic experience came at the last Lambeth Conference in 1998. After the debate on sexuality that had dominated the proceedings, a Nigerian bishop laid hands on Kirker in front of a phalanx of television cameras to “exorcise” the demons of homosexuality. He now shrugs the incident off with customary good cheer, but a mutual friend who was with him tells me: “It was a horrible, horrible experience where the symbols of the Church were being abused for the sake of attention-seeking theatricals. Richard could have been crushed by it, but he rose above it and refused to be made a martyr.”

Max Brod, Czech-born Israeli composer, writer, and biographer of Kafka, born in Prague, Kingdom of Bohemia (now Czech Republic) (d. 1968) Just as remarkable as his appointment as bishop of Kingston was his preferment in 1978 as bishop of Birmingham. His was the first appointment recommended by the newly constituted Crown Appointments Commission, and it is reasonable to assume that, under the previous system of choosing bishops on the old-boy network, he would never have become a diocesan. In the light of Montefiore's strenuous efforts on behalf of the Church of England, it was sad to read in his autobiography that he did not really feel accepted in the Christian community. "I was sensitive about criticism," he wrote. "I realised that I was not altogether likeable, otherwise my peers would talk to me more and befriend me. I felt I always had to take the initiative. I might appear to be brash and self-confident (I was certainly impetuous); but this often hid an inferior feeling of unacceptedness." Jill Sterkel, American swimmer (Olympic gold, 1976 & 1984; bronze, 1988), born in Hacienda Heights, CaliforniaJulia Ward Howe, American poet (Battle Hymn of the Republic), author, abolitionist, and women's suffragist, born in NYC, New York (d. 1910)