Our colleague and friend Stuart Thorogood, who has died of a heart attack aged 36, was a man of many parts; an author and journalist who was also well known as a colourful and quirky Soho "scenester".
Stu worked with us at the Open University in London where his flamboyant style, irreverent humour and loyal friendship ensured him a unique place in collegiate life. His comedy sketches and Voice of Region column in the staff magazine provided an "alternative", but always affectionate, view of the OU.
One of three children of Neil and Jill, Stu grew up in Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, in a close and loving family. However, he later wrote that his lifelong struggle with depression began when he was 11, due partly to his growing awareness of his sexuality and the difficulty of asserting his identity as a young gay man in a small English town.
The struggle for acceptance, and eventual celebration of a lifestyle he didn't so much choose as grab with both hands and drag around the dance-floor, was fictionalised in his first novel Outcast, published by Gay Men's Press in 1999. The sequel, Outside In, appeared in 2001. Both were well-received for their refreshing insight into the challenges of coming out in a working class community in the 1990s.
His short stories were included in the Gay Times anthologies Bend Sinister (2002) and Serendipity (2004), and he also published Drink Me (2009), a brutally honest memoir about his growing dependence on alcohol and drugs as he attempted to escape from the depression and anxiety that continued to haunt him. These problems made him decide to leave the OU and London and return home, where he became increasingly reclusive, although he maintained contact with his friends and continued to write, with social media providing a ready outlet for his sharp-witted (and sharp-tongued) observations.
Stu's family were a vital source of affection and support throughout all the challenges he faced and among the last things he wrote was a picture book entitled What Would You Rather?, dedicated to his beloved nephew and niece.
Just 10 days before he died, Stu, resolute as always, posted the following message on Facebook that sums him up better than we can hope to: "You're born and then you live and then you die. You get one try. And I've tried everything. And I'm glad."
He is survived by Neil and Jill, his siblings, Jodie and Matthew, and his niece and nephew.
