My wife, Ingrid Evans, who has died of cancer aged 65, was a member of the Guardian team that on 1 April 1977 pulled off the special report on the island of San Serriffe, a spoof that took in thousands of people and put it among the great April Fools’ Day stories. In an era when many newspapers try to do this every year, that may not seem remarkable. But for its time, it certainly was.
Ingrid was the middle child of Dutch parents, Henk Dammers, a scientist, and his wife, Renee (nee Malotaux), a violinist. Her father had survived the Dachau concentration camp during the second world war. The couple came to the UK in 1949 because of Henk’s job with Royal Dutch Shell.
Ingrid was born and brought up in Kent and attended Highsted grammar school for girls in Sittingbourne. In 1970, she went to what is now Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, to study modern languages. After university she went to work in publishing at Macmillan and then to the Guardian as an administrator and secretary. Soon after “San Serriffe” she moved to the University of London’s extramural department for six years.
In 1984 Ingrid went back into the newspaper world – first at United Newspapers, and then to join the political department of the Sunday Times as its administrator. But in 1986, during the Wapping dispute between News International and the unions, Ingrid refused to work at Wapping and was sacked. David, now Lord, Lipsey, then editor of New Society, asked her to join the magazine. When it merged with the New Statesman in 1988, Ingrid carried on, until 1991. Later she worked briefly for the Economist and then for Leyton sixth form college.
Ingrid was also a keen amateur cellist. She joined Woodford Symphony Orchestra and, in all, played in more than 100 concerts, most of them as lead cellist. She was also active in the local community of Wanstead.
Ingrid and I were married for 30 years and she was just well enough to attend a dinner to celebrate our pearl anniversary on 21 June. She had many loyal friends dating back to her days in Cambridge and especially from Wanstead, where we lived for 25 years.
She is survived by me and our two daughters, Charlotte and Harriet, and by her sister, Miriam, and brother, Robert.
