BBC Radio presenter David Arscott has died aged 81.
The radio veteran passed away suddenly after playing a game of tennis in the grounds of Lewes Priory on November 29.
His wife Jill led the tributes: “He liked people and rarely judged them. Although he loved his writing he always said that radio presenting was the best job he had ever had. Few things riled David, but a misplaced comma certainly did. David had long been the county’s laureate, telling its story in his own words and in his warm voice in dozens of books, programmes and talks all over Sussex, the Mirror reports.
“He loved the records kept by Sussex vicars of centuries ago, laughing out loud at ‘Buried Thomas Winfield, that old fornicator’ and the baptism of the daughter of ‘Elizabeth Rogers, a very noted strumpet of this parish’.”
The radio veteran, who was a familiar voice on Radio Brighton and later Radio Sussex from the mid-seventies until 1991.
His career began as a newspaper journalist in London, Dorset and Caracas, Venezuela before he made the switch to radio.
He was known for his chatty style of programmes – often inviting guests into the studio for interviews.
His wife Jill revealed he had told her radio presenting was the best job he ever had. The father-of-seven and grandfather-of-ten also penned more than 40 books about Sussex, with his last work focusing on Sussex poet Hilaire Belloc.
The radio star is survived by his wife, seven children and ten grandchildren.
Don’t miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond.Sign up to our daily newsletter.