A funeral service will take place next week to celebrate the “wonderful life” of children’s author and journalist Gordon Snell, the husband of the late Maeve Binchy.
Snell (93) died peacefully at home on Wednesday. A notice on Rip.ie says that Snell, who was late of Dalkey in Dublin and London, will be “deeply missed by his loving relations and many good friends and carers.”
A funeral service will take place at 10am next Tuesday (May 5th) at the Victorian Chapel at Mount Jerome, Harold’s Cross in Dublin. It can be viewed online at www.mount Jerome.ie and remation will follow.
Mr Snell was born in Singapore in 1932. At the age of ten he went to boarding school in Australia. He spent several years in Australia with his family. When his family returned to the UK, Snell went to Oxford to study English language and literature. He later became a radio studio manager with the BBC overseas service.
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Snell published his first book for children in 1978. The King of Quizzical Island tells the story of a King who had a quest to find the edge of the world. When Snell moved to Ireland he wrote a number of scripts for RTÉ including Wanderly Wagon. He wrote over 70 books for children as well as comedy for adults.
Snell first met Binchy he was a producer with the BBC in London and she was a contributor to BBC Radio 4. They married in 1977 and set up home in Dalkey where they worked harmoniously side by side until her death in 2012.
Snell and Binchy always dedicated their books to each other. However, in 2018 Snell told RTÉ that he decided not to dedicate his books to anyone following her death as no one could “replace her.”
