Artists’ Passing

Today’s obituary columns in the Guardian contain two names that register with me: Vernon Handley and Algis Budrys. I have a number of Handley’s recordings of Vaughan Williams in my music collection, and have always liked them. As for Budrys, I remember taking out his book Who? from the public library in Douglas as a teenager, and being intrigued by its exploration of the question of identity. I’m pretty sure that it was a Gollancz publication, with its bright yellow cover. I don’t have a copy of it in my library, just a collection of his short stories: The Furious Future. I should make time today to read one of his stories and to listen to a piece of Vaughan Williams conducted by Handley.