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Article: God bless you, Comrade ... ; Sir Richard Knowles was a larger than life figure who made a lasting mark on the city of Birmingham. AUREEN MESSENT recalls her personal memories of the man.
- Article from:
- Evening Mail
- Article date:
- February 18, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2008 Birmingham Mail. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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HIS heart matched his girth, he addressed everyone as 'Comrade'
and he was proud to be a man of Kent, the county of his birth.
Sir Richard could hold the council chamber in thrall with his
rhetoric, make it explode with laughter and wake it up on days of
dull debate.
Behind the bonhomie and the ability to seize on a weak argument
and demolish it with a pithy phrase, there was a man who loved
books. He had assembled a fair-sized library at his home.
His ability to quote the Bible was legendary and he was deeply
romantic.
When he first met his second wife, now Lady Anne Knowles, both
were on a delegation to Moscow.
For Sir Richard, it was love at first sight and he took all of
one day to ...