She was, as a colleague said, a remarkably unstuffy mayor, cycling to some engagements - one of those being unannounced calls at police stations to check on how people under arrest were being treated. In 2004 she was elected chair of Thames Valley Police Authority. She often joined officers on patrol late at night on Christmas or New Year's Eve.It is written by her father Philip Arnold.
This is also a chance to quote the obituary that Catherine Furlong wrote for the July issue of Liberator:
At the time of the Oaten revelations, e-mails were flying between collective members, particularly following the Sunday Times interview in which Oaten tried to justify his behaviour.
Sally's response was typically wry and witty: "As a result of chemotherapy I found myself suddenly, at the age of 51, middle-aged and bald ... fortunately I have so far been able to resist the urge to have sex with rent boys and stand as leader of the LDs."
I was pleased that my little piece about Sally eventually made its way into Other Lives although as is usual with these matters, my original piece was much longer and the truncated version lost the balance of the original. I have put up a fuller version of Sally's life as a website and viewers of this will be able to read Catherine Furlong's well balance appreciation whhich appeared in Liberator. I was taken by the fact that the Tory comments on the Book of Condolence were so favourable. It has been suggested to me that this was because she was straight and honest and they felt they could trust her!
ReplyDeletePhilip
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for leaving a comment. The tribute site to Sally can be found here.