National newspaper front pages were dominated on Monday by Terry Wogan’s cheeky grin. And countless inside pages were devoted to the man who made millions of radio listeners smile every morning.
There were some predictable headlines, with the Sun and Daily Mirror both running “Thank you for being our friend”. Metro said “Thanks, Tel” and the Daily Express chose “Farewell, Sir Terry.”
But I rather think Wogan would have appreciated more the Daily Star’s imaginative “Top o’ the mourning”.
Many papers referred to Wogan being a national treasure and I guess that, being Irish, he could have achieved a unique double: a national treasure in two nations.
Among the many tributes from writers, three stood out. Mark Lawson, in the Guardian, picked up on Wogan being broadcasting’s equivalent of Flann O’Brien. Quite right too. His gentle, subversive satire had a surreal quality.
Allison Pearson, in the Telegraph, concentrated on his warmth and gift of the gab. A single quote from her piece was used on the paper’s front page: “If the Queen, who was among his devoted listeners, is the nation’s centre of gravity then Terry Wogan was its centre of levity.”
And in the Daily Mail, there was a wonderfully intimate piece by fellow countryman, John McEntee, who was Wogan’s friend for 40 years. It included some of his jokes and several anecdotes, none better than a remark about the rolling of his favourite Cuban cigars.
