THE DAY THE EARTH REALLY DID STAND STILL

MOVING tributes have been paid to Richard Williamson, the Sunday Mercury's chief feature writer, following his sudden death last week. (Dec, 2003)

Dick, who was also the paper's movie critic and book reviewer, passed away following a suspected heart attack. He was just 56 years old.

David Brookes, Editor of the Sunday Mercury, said: 'Dick's columns and features have graced the pages of the Sunday Mercury for the past 35 years.

'His was a unique talent. He had a love of the English language like no other journalist I have known, and exploited it in every sentence he wrote.

'Dick was a private, modest, somewhat shy person whose true personality and character was revealed in his weekly column for the Sunday Mercury.

'Here he could write from the heart, as Dick saw life. Always championing Birmingham and the Midlands, and frequently sticking up for the underdog and lessprivileged.

'But more than that, he was a genuinely lovely man. Journalism has lost one of its finest writers. Dick's colleagues and everyone who knew him have lost a true friend.'

Fiona Alexander, former editor of the Sunday Mercury and currently editor of the Birmingham Post, said: 'It was a pleasure and a privilege to work with Dick Williamson.

'He was my sounding-board, my supporter, my critic, my drinking partner and most importantly my friend. He was the only person to have an annual performance review over a bottle of claret in Quo Vadis!

'He also teased me incessantly about my ignorance of the arts world. 'Hold the front page!' he boomed one Saturday night. 'Lionel Bart's died'. 'Who?' I asked, nonplussed. He certainly wasn't a famous footballer.

'You know', he said incredulously, 'one of the most famous British writers of musicals. The guy who wrote Oliver!' 'I never lived it down. From then on I was never 'Fiona', 'Boss', or 'Editor' again. Dick just called me Lionel.

'Dick is the most talented writer I have ever worked with and, I believe, will ever work with. He is truly irreplaceable -and you can't say that about many people. I will miss him terribly.'

Another former Sunday Mercury editor, Peter Whitehouse, said: 'Dick was one of the most creative and thoughtful writers in Midland journalism.

'He cared deeply about people, particularly the less privileged in our society, and this was always reflected in his approach to what he did.

'He was naturally a kindly, modest and private person and these qualities helped make him a bastion against any tendency to excess in journalistic practices. He was also punctilious about accuracy.

'In the 30 or so years I worked alongside Dick - from his days as a graduate trainee through to his years as editorial sage -I cannot remember him ever being accused of even the mildest exaggeration, misreporting or factual error.

'For generations of upcoming young journalists he was always willing to lend a quiet word of advice and guidance. As a result he played a role in the development of the careers of many who now rank among the nation's media stars.

'For senior colleagues he was an inexhaustible source of information, wisdom and intelligence.

'His disdain for pettyfogging rules or for formality -particularly in dress codes - were legendary.

'He was one of the 'good guys' of our trade, one of the uncelebrated characters on which the fine reputation of British regional journalism is based.

'He was a fiercely proud Midlander and must, over the years, have written hundreds of thousands of words in support of the region, its industry, its arts and its people.

'The Midlands will miss him, journalism will miss him and those of us who had the privilege to work alongside him will miss him most of all.'

Adam Fradgley, Chief Pictures Editor forthe Birmingham Post and Mail Group, worked with Dick during many years on the Sunday Mercury.

'Dick Williamson was a true legend, alongside whom I had the distinct pleasure of working,' he said. 'What more can a humble photographer say of such a master wordsmith?

'Dick, the fount of all knowledge, would regularly be called upon to settle differences of opinion and to reason between fact and fiction.

'He could be relied upon not only for his answers but also his comical ridicule of anyone he saw as fair game.

'Often the target for a ribbing myself (normally over my taste in music and fashion). I will miss the fun jibes from our 'cool uncle' as the girls in the office affectionately called him.

'My personal experiences with Dick span nine years and I can honestly say in that time not only did I never have a cross word with him, but neither did anyone else.

'A lover of the countryside and wildlife, Dick would often drag me to some farflung corner of the Midlands to provide photography for one of his features.

'It was on one of these trips in 1995 that we were dispatched to photograph some piglets (apparently they were rare).

'Whilst setting up the picture one of the baby piglets made a bid for freedom and took off like a rocket! Imagine the scene: a very distressed farmer, a photographer more worried about the picture than the escaping piglet and our Dick calm, cool and collected, as ever.

'After some considerable time and effort, the piglet was back in safe custody with Dick -who had captured the runaway whilst having a cigarette away from the fray.'

National Union of Journalists spokesman Chris Morley, Father of the Chapel of the BPM branch, said: 'Dick Williamson was a stalwart member of the National Union of Journalists for more than three decades.

'With quiet mastery of his journalistic craft, depth of character and judgment, he was a guiding figure to many cub reporters who learnt their trade the Sunday Mercury on their way to careers in television, radio or national newspapers.

'He was a shining example of the values and principles which the NUJ requires of its members - a man of integrity with a desire to uphold the highest professional and ethical standards.

'Dick never wavered in his support for those things which make good journalism so important to our lives.'

Dick's ex-wife Mary-Ann Bloomfield, editor of the Mid Devon Gazette series, also paid tribute to her former husband.

'Dick was a hugely intelligent journalist,' she said. 'He was the first person I recall to describe journalists as wordsmiths and indeed he was one of the highest order.

'He was such a well-known newspaper personality on the Midlands scene, held in enormous affection and professional regard by many people.'

Lord Mayor of Birmingham John Alden said: 'I was very sorry to hear of the untimely death of Dick Williamson.

'He was a proud Brummie who continually promoted the city of Birmingham.

My sympathies go to his family.'

Michael McLean, marketing manager for Birmingham's Odeon Cinema, said: 'Dick was one of the loveliest people I have met and was also one of the country's finest film critics.

'He had a great passion for movies. But if he disliked something he said so to his readers -no matter how nicely the PR company may have been. He always spoke from the heart.'

Birmingham Mail Film and TV Editor Graham Young said: 'Dick had a depth, and breadth, of knowledge that was second to none. Yet 'Modest' was his middle name.

'Movies could infuriate him with their ineptitude one day, and delight him with their magic the next.

'He recently wrote with passion about one of his own favourite authors, Patrick O'Brian. The film in question, Master and Commander, is now a fitting title to remember this great newspaperman by.'