Last Word

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BBC Radio 4 LW

Factual: Life Stories

Radio 4's weekly obituary programme, telling the life stories of those who have died recently

BBC Radio 4 FM

Last Word: Eric Carle (pictured), Helen Murray Free, Michael Parsons, Evelyn McNicol

Eric Carle (pictured), Helen Murray Free, Michael Parsons, Evelyn McNicol

BBC Radio 4 - Last Word, Eric Carle (pictured), Helen Murray Free, Michael Parsons, Evelyn McNicol

Matthew Bannister on an author, a chemist, an engineer, a mountaineer.

Matthew Bannister on author Eric Carle, chemist Helen Murray Free, engineer Michael Parsons, mountaineer Evelyn McNicol.

Matthew Bannister on

The children’s author and illustrator Eric Carle, best known for creating The Very Hungry Caterpillar which has sold fifty-five million copies.

Helen Murray Free, the American chemist who developed revolutionary simple tests for diabetes and other serious conditions. 

Michael Parsons, the engineer who designed some of the world’s longest suspension bridges, including the Severn Bridge and the Humber Bridge.

Evelyn McNicol, the pioneering Scottish mountaineer who was a member of the first all-female British expedition to the Himalayas. 


Producer: Rabeka Nurmahomed

Interviewed guest: Oliver Jeffers 
Interviewed guest: Julia Eccleshare
Interviewed guest: Dr Bill Carroll
Interviewed guest: Philip Parsons
Interviewed guest: Kate Ross

Archive clips used: Open Book: Radio 4, TX 4.5.1999; The Severn Bridge at 50_A High Wire Act: BBC One Wales, TX 7.9.2016; Ladies Scottish Climbing Club: Radio Scotland, TX 20.12.2006

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Eric Carle (pictured), Helen Murray Free, Michael Parsons, Evelyn McNicol

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