Adrian Anthony Gill (28 June 1954 – 10 December 2016) was a British journalist, critic, and author. Best known for his food and travel writing, he was also a television critic, was restaurant reviewer of ''
The Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...
'', wrote for ''
Vanity Fair'', ''
GQ'', and ''
Esquire'', and published numerous books.
After failing to establish himself as an artist, Gill wrote his first piece for ''
Tatler
''Tatler'' is a British magazine published by Condé Nast Publications focusing on fashion and lifestyle, as well as coverage of high society and politics. It is targeted towards the British upper-middle class and upper class, and those interes ...
'' in 1991 and joined ''The Sunday Times'' in 1993.
Known for his sharp wit, and often controversial style, Gill was widely read and won numerous awards for his writing. On his death he was described by one editor as "a giant among journalists." His articles were the subject of numerous complaints to the
Press Complaints Commission
The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) was a voluntary regulatory body for British printed newspapers and magazines, consisting of representatives of the major publishers. The PCC closed on Monday 8 September 2014, and was replaced by the Inde ...
.
Early life and education
Gill was born in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
to an English father,
Michael Gill
George Michael Gill (10 December 1923 – 20 October 2005) was an English television producer and director responsible for creating documentaries for the BBC.
Biography
Gill was born in Winchester, Hampshire but was brought up in Canterbur ...
, a television producer and director, and a Scottish mother,
Yvonne Gilan, an actress. He had a brother, Nicholas. The family moved back to the south of England when he was one year old.
In 1964, he appeared briefly in his parents' film ''
The Peaches'' as a chess player.
Gill was educated at the independent
St Christopher School, Letchworth
St Christopher School is a boarding and day co-educational independent school in Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, England.
Established in 1915, shortly after Ebenezer Howard founded Letchworth Garden City, the school is a long-time prop ...
, Hertfordshire, and later recalled his experiences at the school in his book ''The Angry Island''. After St Christopher's, he moved to London to study at the
Saint Martin's School of Art
Saint Martin's School of Art was an art college in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1854, initially under the aegis of the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields. Saint Martin's became part of ...
and the
Slade School of Art
The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...
, nurturing ambitions to be an artist. Following art school Gill spent six years "
signing on, trying to paint, until one day he realised he wasn't any good".
At the age of 30, having abandoned his ambitions in art, he spent several years working in restaurants and teaching cookery.
[
]
Writing
Gill began his writing career in his thirties, writing "art reviews for little magazine
In the United States, a little magazine is a magazine genre consisting of "artistic work which for reasons of commercial expediency is not acceptable to the money-minded periodicals or presses", according to a 1942 study by Frederick J. Hoffman, ...
s". His first piece for ''Tatler
''Tatler'' is a British magazine published by Condé Nast Publications focusing on fashion and lifestyle, as well as coverage of high society and politics. It is targeted towards the British upper-middle class and upper class, and those interes ...
'', in 1991, was an account of being in a detox clinic, written under the pseudonym Blair Baillie. In 1993, he moved to ''The Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...
'' where, according to Lynn Barber
Lynn Barber (born 22 May 1944) is a British journalist who has worked for many publications, including ''The Sunday Times''.
Early life
Barber attended Lady Eleanor Holles School in south-west London. While she was studying for her A-Levels she ...
, "he quickly established himself as their shiniest star". He continued to write for ''The Sunday Times'' until shortly before his death in 2016.
Gill was also a contributing editor to '' Vanity Fair'' and '' GQ''. He wrote a series of columns for ''GQ'', on fatherhood and other subjects. He also wrote for '' Esquire'', where he served as an agony uncle
An advice column is a column in a question and answer format. Typically, a (usually anonymous) reader writes to the media outlet with a problem in the form of a question, and the media outlet provides an answer or response.
The responses are w ...
, "Uncle Dysfunctional".
Collections of his travel writing were published as ''AA Gill is Away'' (2002), ''Previous Convictions'' (2006) and ''AA Gill is Further Away'' (2011), his ''Tatler'' and ''Sunday Times'' food writing as ''Table Talk'' (2007) and his TV columns as ''Paper View'' (2008). He wrote several books on individual restaurants and their cuisine – ''Ivy'' (1997), ''Le Caprice'' (1999), ''Breakfast at the Wolseley'' (2008) and ''Brasserie Zedel'' (2016).
He also wrote two novels which were generally poorly reviewed – ''Sap Rising'' (1996) and ''Starcrossed'' (1999). ''Starcrossed'' was given the ''Literary Review
''Literary Review'' is a British literary magazine founded in 1979 by Anne Smith, then head of the Department of English at the University of Edinburgh. Its offices are on Lexington Street in Soho. The magazine was edited for fourteen years by v ...
''s Bad Sex in Fiction Award. He wrote books studying England – ''The Angry Island'' (2005), and the United States – ''The Golden Door'' (2012).
In 2014, Gill won an Amnesty International Media Award, and a Women on the Move award for a series of ''Sunday Times Magazine
''The Sunday Times Magazine'' is a magazine included with '' The Sunday Times''. In 1962 it became the first colour supplement to be published as a supplement to a UK newspaper, and its arrival "broke the mould of weekend newspaper publishing". ...
'' articles on refugees in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
, Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
and Lampedusa
Lampedusa ( , , ; scn, Lampidusa ; grc, Λοπαδοῦσσα and Λοπαδοῦσα and Λοπαδυῦσσα, Lopadoûssa; mt, Lampeduża) is the largest island of the Italian Pelagie Islands in the Mediterranean Sea.
The ''comune'' of L ...
. In 2014, he also won the "Hatchet Job of the Year Award" for his scathing review of Morrisey's ''Autobiography''. In 2015 he published a memoir, ''Pour Me''.
On his death, ''The Sunday Times'' editor Martin Ivens
Martin Paul Ivens (born 29 August 1958) is an English journalist and editor of ''The Times Literary Supplement''. He is a former editor of ''The Sunday Times''.
Early life
Ivens, who was born in Hampstead in North London, is the son of Michael Iv ...
described Gill as "the heart and soul of the paper" and "a giant among journalists".
Controversies
Gill's acerbic style led to several controversies and complaints from public figures during his career.
Wales
In 1997, in ''The Sunday Times'', Gill described the Welsh as "loquacious dissemblers, immoral liars, stunted, bigoted, dark, ugly, pugnacious little trolls". His comments were reported to the Commission for Racial Equality
The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom which aimed to address racial discrimination and promote racial equality. The commission was established in 1976, and disbanded in 2007 when its ...
and used as an example of what was described as "persistent anti-Welsh racism in the UK media" in a motion in the National Assembly for Wales
The Senedd (; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes laws for Wales, agrees certain taxes and scrutinises the Welsh Go ...
. The CRE declined to prosecute, saying that Gill "had not meant to stir up racial hatred." Gill's comments led him to become the subject of the song "Little Trolls" by Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers
Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Welsh rock band formed in Blackwood in 1986. The band consists of cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, lead guitar) and Sean Moore (drums, percussion, soundscapes), plus ...
, the B-side to their 2001 single " Ocean Spray". In the song, Manics' lyricist Nicky Wire
Nicholas Allen Jones (born 20 January 1969), known as Nicky Wire, is a Welsh musician and songwriter, best known as lyricist, bassist and secondary vocalist of the Welsh alternative rock band, Manic Street Preachers.
Prior to the group, Wire s ...
reflects Gill's comments on the Welsh back at him, referring to him as a "Spiteful twisted unforgiven, sad and inverted and stunted, retarded ugly balding old man".
Isle of Man
Gill's feud with the Isle of Man
)
, anthem = "O Land of Our Birth"
, image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg
, image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg
, mapsize =
, map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe
, map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green)
in Europe ...
began in 2006 with a review of Ciappelli's restaurant in Douglas
Douglas may refer to:
People
* Douglas (given name)
* Douglas (surname)
Animals
* Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking
*Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civi ...
. Gill wrote that the island:
The review was attacked in the Tynwald
Tynwald ( gv, Tinvaal), or more formally, the High Court of Tynwald ( gv, Ard-whaiyl Tinvaal) or Tynwald Court, is the legislature of the Isle of Man. It consists of two chambers, known as the branches of Tynwald: the directly elected House of ...
, the Manx parliament, with House of Keys
The House of Keys () is the directly elected lower house of Tynwald, the parliament of the Isle of Man, the other branch being the Legislative Council.
History
The oldest known reference to the name is in a document of 1417, written in L ...
member David Cannan
John David Qualtrough Cannan (24 August, 1936 – 2022) was the Member of the House of Keys for Michael and Chairman of the Isle of Man Water Authority. He was the son of former Chaplain of the House of Keys, Rev Canon Charles Cannan. He was ...
demanding an apology for the "unacceptable and scurrilous attack".
Gill made further comments regarding the Isle of Man in his ''Sunday Times'' column on 23 May 2010, when he described its citizens as falling into two types: "hopeless, inbred mouth-breathers known as Bennies" and "retired, small arms dealers and accountants who deal in rainforest futures
Futures may mean:
Finance
*Futures contract, a tradable financial derivatives contract
*Futures exchange, a financial market where futures contracts are traded
* ''Futures'' (magazine), an American finance magazine
Music
* ''Futures'' (album), a ...
". His comments were made in the aftermath of Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...
's suggestion that drugs should be legalised in the Isle of Man. Gill added that "If … they become a hopelessly addicted, criminal cesspit, who'd care? Indeed, who could tell the difference?"
England
In February 2011, Gill described the county of Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
as "the hernia
A hernia is the abnormal exit of tissue or an organ, such as the bowel, through the wall of the cavity in which it normally resides. Various types of hernias can occur, most commonly involving the abdomen, and specifically the groin. Groin herni ...
on the end of England". In December 2013, his column just before New Year's Eve, was the result of a night on the beat in Grimsby
Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of L ...
and Cleethorpes and was heavily critical of both towns where Grimsby is "on the road to nowhere" and Cleethorpes is full of "hunched and grubby semi-detached homes". Humberside Police and Crime Commissioner
The Humberside Police and Crime Commissioner is the police and crime commissioner, an elected official tasked with setting out the way crime is tackled by Humberside Police in the English Counties of East Riding of Yorkshire and Northern parts of ...
Matthew Grove
Matthew Paul Grove (born May 1963) is a former Conservative Humberside Police and Crime Commissioner.
Career
Grove was the first person to hold the post of Humberside Police and Crime Commissioner, serving between November 2012 and May 2016. ...
described Gill as "A tweed-suited, Mayfair-based writer, whose only experience of the North of England was his visit to Cleethorpes and his regular trips salmon fishing in Scotland".
Killing of a baboon
Gill reported in his ''Sunday Times'' column in October 2009 that he shot a baboon
Baboons are primates comprising the genus ''Papio'', one of the 23 genera of Old World monkeys. There are six species of baboon: the hamadryas baboon, the Guinea baboon, the olive baboon, the yellow baboon, the Kinda baboon and the chacma ...
dead, prompting outrage from animal rights
Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their Utilitarianism, utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding s ...
groups.[ ] "I know perfectly well there is absolutely no excuse for this", he wrote, and that he killed the animal to "get a sense of what it might be like to kill someone, a stranger". He went on to state, " ey die hard, baboons. But not this one. A soft-nosed .357 blew his lungs out".
Clare Balding
In his review of Clare Balding's 2010 ''Britain by Bike'' TV programme, Gill referred to the presenter as "a big lesbian" and "a dyke on a bike". Gill's ''Sunday Times'' editor, John Witherow
John Witherow (born 20 January 1952) is a former editor of British newspaper ''The Times''. A former journalist with Reuters, he joined News International (now News UK) in 1980 and was appointed editor of ''The Sunday Times'' in 1994 and edito ...
, responded to Balding's complaint: "In my view some members of the gay community need to stop regarding themselves as having a special victim status and behave like any other sensible group that is accepted by society. Not having a privileged status means, of course, one must accept occasionally being the butt of jokes. A person's sexuality should not give them a protected status".
Dissatisfied with the response, Balding's subsequent complaint to the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) was upheld: they considered use of the word "dyke" to have been "pejorative" and "used in a demeaning and gratuitous way". The PCC considered publication of Gill's piece to be "an editorial lapse" for which "the newspaper should have apologised at the first possible opportunity". In his defence, ''The Sunday Times'' pointed out that in the five years prior to Balding's, the PCC had received 62 complaints involving Gill but none had been upheld.
Mary Beard
Reviewing Mary Beard's BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
'' in April 2012, Gill wrote that the academic "should be kept away from cameras altogether". Beard in response accused him of being "frightened of smart women" and suggested "maybe it's precisely because he did not go to university that he never quite learned the rigour of intellectual argument and he thinks that he can pass off insults as wit."
and consequently dictated all of his writing.
who stopped drinking at the age of 29.
On 1 April 1984, he shared two bottles of vintage champagne with his father on the train to Wiltshire and checked into the
. He followed an
" to recovery and, in tribute to the organisation, began using the name "A. A." Gill professionally.
In a 2014 article in ''The Times'', Gill said that he had "continued to smoke about 60 a day" until the age of 48."
From 1982 to 1983, Gill was married to the author Cressida Connolly.