Keith Wright
As all member’s of the society know Keith Wright, our hard working chairman and editor of the ‘Daresbury Chronicles passed away in March. Below is a copy of the obituaries for him written by Ken Oultram secretary of the Daresbury Lewis Carrol Society and Selwyn Goodacre of the London based Lewis Carroll Society.
Keith Wright , Chairman of the Daresbury Lewis Carroll Society, died, aged 73, on the 12th March 2015. He had succeeded Manxman George Killip who retired from the post , aged 93, to spend more time on his other activities! Sadly George died this year aged 99.
Keith was the only person I ever met whom, in the event of a speaker failing to arrive, could produce an illustrated talk on the spot. He and his wife Liz were both involved in the selection of the annual Llandudno Alice. He produced and edited newsletters in colour for both the Daresbury Lewis Carroll society and the Chester based Randolph Caldecott Society (which I founded in 1983, after discovering that Carroll and Caldecott had corresponded with a view to collaborating on a joint project)
Keith had trained and qualified as a naval architect and was a member of the team that designed the first oil rig but, with the decline of the ship building industry he retrained as a structural engineer. He designed many motor bridges and managed various factories producing concrete products. Later he gained a BSc from the Open University and qualified to teach physics and computer studies.
But it was his interest in photography, from black and white processing to digital images, that eventually led him to Lewis Carroll. At Keith's funeral service in Northwich there was a large contingent of ex students who had attended his photographic courses.
Keith leaves his wife Liz, who he met and married in Middlesborough, their one daughter, three grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
At the drop of a hat he would transport anyone showing an interest in Lewis Carroll to his birthplace in Daresbury and would show them around the church. His knowledge and interest was truly phenomenal.
Ken Oultram
Keith was also a keen member of the main Lewis Carroll Society and played a big part in several of our summer conferences. I particularly recall his pleasantly informal talks at the 2003 conference in Croft, of which he was one of the chief organisers. In the past two years he also set up LC Society trips to Blist Hill in Telford on their 'Alice Days' which were much enjoyed by those who attended. He was always keen to promote joint projects between the two Lewis Carroll Societies in the UK and also with the Lewis Carroll Society of North America. His enthusiasm will be much missed.
Selwyn Goodacre