Glenn Rose (OK 1966)

Glenn (d. 29 June 2020) was born in Colchester, started his schooling in Romford, and when his family moved to New Malden, he attended Burlington Road primary school for two years. He was one of two gifted boys in his year who progressed to Kingäs College Junior School as ‘Surrey Scholars’. He had a most distinctive left-hand oblique handwriting, enjoyed painting and drawing (and doodling in class!), was precociously well-read and was not averse to pranks (such as proposing that the Junior School Library should acquire Lady Chatterley’s Lover). Glenn was not one to overburden his teachers with long essays to mark, but despite this – or was it because of it? – he won an Open Exhibition in English to Christ’s College Cambridge where he read Moral Sciences. His love of avant-garde jazz was such that he always knew about the latest phenomenon before anyone else, and it was no surprise when he named his daughter after a saxophone iconoclast. A man of style, at one time he sported a black and orange paisley-pattern double-breasted needlecord jacket, he chose his cars idiosyncratically and could always be smoked out (literally) by his love of maize-paper Gitanes. He was proud of his ancestral link with the Northamptonshire poet John Clare and at school adopted the poet’s surname as a middle name. He supported West Ham United and for some time the Labour Party, which gave him his 5 minutes of fame when his address to the Annual Conference supporting the ANC was televised. His adult life saw him moving in stages ever northward, and his final home was Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Sometimes frustrating, but always a congenial, stimulating and fun friend. (David Percival, OK 1966)

Glenn had been in hospital In Newcastle since mid January, where he was being treated for cancer. He put up an amazing fight but eventually sadly died peacefully in his sleep.
He is survived by his parents Eric and Dorothy, wife Anita, daughter Ayla and his two grandsons Joseph and Elliot.
Glenn made his mark in the voluntary sector where he had great success in helping organisations with their applications for local authority grants.
He was a member of an exclusive group of protégés of Mr Frank Miles and was a passionate aficionado of avant garde jazz.
(Robert Bery, OK 1966)