Sad news

Via Iain, word reaches me of the death of Frank Johnson. I only barely caught the end of his editorship of the Spectator, but I always enjoyed his sketches, which seemed to lack the nastier edge often present in such things. I hadn't realised quite the extent to which he was a 'power in the land' in the early days of Thatcherism, but I'm pleased to hear about it. It's always nice to read someone who's funny and right at the same time: too often the two seem to be incompatible.