[James]

I used to read his articles in the Sunday Times, when I bought that newspaper. RIP.

Sunday Times restaurant critic AA Gill has died, aged 62, three weeks after revealing he had cancer.

The columnist told the newspaper last month that he had been diagnosed with the "full English" of cancers.

Gill, who had been having chemotherapy, said that he did not "feel cheated" and had been "very lucky" in his life.

In a statement sent to staff, Sunday Times editor Martin Ivens said Gill had been "the heart and soul of the paper" and "a giant among journalists".

The final column by Gill, who joined the newspaper in 1993, will be featured in tomorrow's Sunday Times.
'Fearless'

Mr Ivens told staff: "It is with profound sadness that I must tell you that our much-loved colleague Adrian Gill died this morning.

"Adrian was stoical about his illness, but the suddenness of his death has shocked us all.

"Characteristically he has had the last word, writing an outstanding article about coming to terms with his cancer in tomorrow's Sunday Times Magazine.


"He was the heart and soul of the paper. His wit was incomparable, his writing was dazzling and fearless, his intelligence was matched by compassion.

"Adrian was a giant among journalists. He was also our friend. We will miss him."

Writing about his illness in November, Gill had said he had "an embarrassment of cancer, the full English.

"There is barely a morsel of offal not included. I have a trucker's gut-buster, gimpy, malevolent, meaty malignancy."


Writers, broadcasters and journalists have paid tribute to Gill.

Jay Rayner, the broadcaster and writer, tweeted that Gill was a "controversialist" but was also "a kind man and a brilliant writer".

The Sunday Times's political editor Tim Shipman said Gill had been "the writer who first made me buy the Sunday Times".
'King of critics'

Editor of the Times Literary Supplement, Stig Abell, tweeted that Gill had been "the first journalist I learned to recognise purely from his style", while Sunday Times columnist India Knight said no writer "even came close" to him.

Editor of the Financial Times, Lionel Barber, said Gill was "the king of irreverent critics", while BBC presenter Andrew Neil, a former editor of the Sunday Times, said he was "consumed with sadness".

Neil added: "Hired AA for Sunday Times in 1993. He never forgot what he saw as huge favour. As one of finest writers of our time, he was doing the favour."


Edinburgh-born Gill overcame dyslexia to forge a career as a writer.

He went to the independent St Christopher School in Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, and studied at the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and the Slade School of Fine Art, in London.

He began his writing career in the 1980s, writing art reviews for magazines, before writing for Tatler and then the Sunday Times.
Engagement

His first marriage was to author Cressida Connolly in 1983. He married current Home Secretary Amber Rudd, who was then a venture capitalist, in 1991.

They had two children together but divorced in 1995.

Gill's illness had prompted his engagement to his partner of 23 years, Nicola Formby, with whom he also had two children.

He said he had been "surprisingly excited" to be getting married to Ms Formby, who he often referred as "The Blonde" in his restaurant reviews.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38276456