My friend Craig Law, who has died aged 35 from lymphoma, always followed the dictum: “Whatever you do, do with all your might.”
As a teenager, growing up in rural Somerset, he worked as a kitchen assistant at a school for boys with special educational needs. He soon found an affinity for working directly with the students and went on to become a teaching assistant. After studying for a degree in history and ancient history at Cardiff University, he completed a PGCE and began work as a supply teacher in schools around Cardiff, including Cantonian high school.
However, the stresses of the teaching profession, as well as his curiosity about other worlds, led him to seek an alternative career in marketing. From 2009 Craig worked in events for the Financial Times and the paper recently dedicated a new internship in his memory. He loved travelling and the job allowed him to visit many fascinating countries. Craig’s enthusiasm for new experiences would at times render him restless, desperate as he was to explore the cultures he found himself in.
He could relate to people from all backgrounds and was very much the social secretary for his department at work. He never lost touch with his Somerset roots and had a diverse and large circle of friends. Parties at his home in South Norwood, south London, often continued well into the next day.
Craig was interested in art from an early age. He combined this interest with historical knowledge and was inspired by architecture and great ships to take up painting. Art gave him huge comfort through his illness, and his family, friends and doctors are proud of the pieces he painted for them.
The elder of two sons of Carol (nee Smith), a hairdresser, and Tim Law, who was in the navy, Craig was born in Yeovil, Somerset, and went to King Arthur’s community school, Wincanton, and Yeovil college. His parents separated when he was seven and both remarried; Craig had a further three brothers. At the centre of his family, he was the first person people would turn to in a crisis. He was self-deprecating and humorous, with a wonderful command of language.
He is survived by his wife, Bindu (nee Paul), whom in married in May, and their son, Hayden, his parents and his brothers.
