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Baroness Shirley Williams (pictured), Glynn Lunney, Lyn Macdonald

Matthew Bannister on politician Baroness Williams, Nasa flight director Glynn Lunney and historian Lyn Macdonald.

Matthew Bannister on:

The Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Williams of Crosby. As Shirley Williams she was a Labour cabinet minister who abolished the 11-plus exam in many parts of the UK, then a member of the Gang of Four who founded the SDP and later the Lib Dem leader in the House of Lords. Her former colleague Lord Owen pays tribute.

Glynn Lunney, who was the flight director on key American space missions, including the Apollo 11 moon landing and the aborted Apollo 13 mission, during which he played a key role in saving the astronauts' lives. His fellow flight director Gerry Griffin pays tribute.

And Lyn Macdonald, the historian who documented the testimony of ordinary First World War soldiers. The author Sebastian Faulks tells us how she inspired his best-selling novel β€œBirdsong”.

Producer: Neil George

Interviewed guest: Julia Langdon
Interviewed guest: Lord David Owen
Interviewed guest: Gerry Griffin
Interviewed guest: Kevin Fong
Interviewed guest: Sebastian Faulks

Archive clips used: Desert Island Discs - Shirley Williams: Radio 4, TX 3.2.2006; World At One: Launch of SDP: Radio 4, TX 26.3.1981; ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ News: ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ One, TX 29.11.1959; The Reunion – The Gang of Four: Radio 4, TX 17.8.2018; I Died In Hell... They Called It Passchendaele: Radio 4, TX 26.10.1977; Woman's Hour: Radio 4, TX 9.11.1974

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28 minutes

Last on

Sun 18 Apr 2021 20:30
ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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Baroness Shirley Williams

BornΜύ27 July 1930; died 12 April 2021, aged 90.

Last Word spoke to political journalist Julia Langdon and to Lord David Owen, fellow member of the β€˜Gang of Four’.

Glynn Lunney

Born 27 November 1936; died 19 March 2021, aged 84.

Last Word spoke to Gerry Griffin, who worked alongside Lunney on the Apollo space programme and to Kevin Fong, who presented 13 Minutes to the Moon.

Lyn Macdonald

Born 31 May 1929; died 1 March 2021, aged 91.

Last Word spoke to the author Sebastian Faulks, who was moved to write his novel Birdsong after meeting Lyn and a group of veterans on a press trip for the 70th anniversary of the Armistice.

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  • Fri 16 Apr 2021 16:00
    ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
  • Sun 18 Apr 2021 20:30
    ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

Podcast

  • Last Word

    Radio 4's weekly obituary programme