Seamus Heaney (1939 - 2013)

It is with great sorrow and sadness that I report the death of Seamus Heaney in Dublin. I offer my condolences to his wife Marie, and children, Christopher, Michael and Catherine Ann.

Seamus Justin Heaney, 13 April 1939 to 30 August 2013.  R.I.P.

--

"The spot is hallow'd where the good man dwells;

Though centuries have laps’d, his words and deeds 

for his remotest offspring still resound”  Goethe

Seamus Heaney was the ultimate poet to me; in his work, his life, his manner, his openness and accessibility. I thought of him as a friendly statue, solid, smiling as I resisted the urge to bow down in his presence. Meeting him at readings down the years he was always the same; kind, considerate, with time to talk and say hello.

Listening Back To Seamus Heaney  with Tom Ashbrook