Simon Verity believed in working the medieval way
The stonemason and grotto-builder died on August 11th, aged 79
The first thing you noticed about Simon Verity was his hair. It stuck out in wild grey corkscrews, as if sprayed with the fiercest sort of gel. That grey was not a sign of age, or only partly. It was mostly stone-dust, accumulated until he could never wash it out. That same dust covered the rest of his comfortably trampish clothes. When he walked down the street, he liked to think, he looked like an apparition.
This article appeared in the Obituary section of the print edition under the headline “Simon Verity ”
Obituary September 7th 2024
More from Obituary
Peter Fenwick became the world expert on near-death experiences
The neuropsychiatrist and promoter of “the art of dying” died on November 22nd, aged 89
Chiung Yao taught the Chinese all about romantic love
The bestselling novelist and screenwriter died on December 4th, aged 86
Jimmy Carter was perhaps the most virtuous of all America’s presidents
The humble peanut farmer who went to the White House died on December 29th, aged 100
Brother Harold Palmer lived alone in the wilds by choice
The Northumbrian hermit died on October 4th, aged 93
Shalom Nagar was picked by lottery to kill Adolf Eichmann
The Israeli prison officer turned ritual slaughterer died on November 26th, aged 88
John Kinsel used his own language to fool the Japanese
One of the last Navajo code-talkers died on October 19th, aged 107