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THEWEEK2November 2019
Obituaries
DeborahOrr,whohasdied
aged 5 7,wasajournalist
whosetrenchant,insightful
writingbecame“necessary
readingevenforthosewhodidnotsharethe
ideologyofthepapersinwhichitappeared”,
saidTheTimes.Formidableinperson,and
forthrightinprint,“shewouldaskquestions
otherswouldrathernotask,orpointouttruths
thattheywouldrathernothear”.Writing
forTheGuardianandTheIndependent,she
“shonealightintosomeofthebleakestcorners
ofsociety”,andcampaignedfiercelyaboutthe
failuresofthewelfaresystem,therisinglevels
ofhomelessness,andtheincreaseddemandfor
foodbanks.Buttakingcaretokeepoffany
passingbandwagons,shewasneverpreachy,
saidTheIndependent;andherviewswereas
unpredictableastheywereidiosyncratic.
DeborahOrrwasborninMotherwell,near
Glasgow,andgrewupintheshadowofthe
Ravenscraigsteelworks.Herfather,John,wasafactoryworker;
hermother,Win,camefromEssex. Asacouple, shewrote,they
made “somanyself-centreddemands...duringtheirlivesthatI
haveliterallywrittenabookabout it. (Motherwell,Weidenfeld &
Nicolson,publishedJanuary2020.)”Asachild, she didnothate
theirtenementhome, said TheDailyTelegraph, butshehatedthe
playarea strewnwithbrokenglass,and“theconstant threat of
intimidationfromolder,tougher kids”.If therewasonebuilding
she adored,it wasMotherwelllibrary:“Forme,itsvery walls
weresuffusedwithallthegrandestidealsthatcivilisation
cherished.”At her comprehensiveschool,she wasberatedfor
the“unbearablepretension”of her English accent.She didwell
–thoughhermother,whoresentedherambition, triedto
undermine her, and wasappalled when shewon aplace atthe
UniversityofSt AndrewstoreadEnglish.Orrherselfwasslightly
appalledwhenshe gotthere,andfound itlargelypopulated by
membersoftheEnglishhunting,shootingand
fishingset,whocouldnotunderstandher
Motherwellaccent.
MovingtoLondoninthe 1980 s,Orrfound
workonthelistingsmagazineCityLimits.It
hadbeensetupasaworkers’cooperative,and
itsoffice,shewrote,seethedwith“victimhood,
resentment,factionalism,incompetenceand
silliness”.Sheresignedin 1990 totakeajobat
TheGuardian,andbythetimeshewas 30 had
becamethefirstfemaleeditorofitsWeekend
supplement.Shewasdevastatedwhenthat
cametoanend–“heartbrokenina
spectacularlyunprofessionalweepingwailing
way”,shewrote.Afteranunhappystintas
literaryeditor,sheleftinthewakeofthe
sacking,byitssisterpaperTheObserver,ofher
thenhusband,WillSelf,afterhehadadmitted
takingheroininthetoiletofJohnMajor’s
planeduringthe1 997 electioncampaign.
Shethenreinventedherselfasacolumnist,
forTheIndependent,beforereturningtoTheGuardianin 200 9.
Withher scathing wit, long hairandpenchantforhighboots, Orr
cut aglamorous, DorothyParker-likefigure, saidTheGuardian.
She couldbe ferocious,buthad akindheart, andwas widely
loved.Latterly,she had developedaloyalfollowingonTwitter,
whereshewroteaboutherbitter disputeswithSelfastheir
marriageended,andthe re-emergenceofthebreast cancerthat
had firstmanifesteditselfin 2010 .Hermorningtweets were
asbracingasacoldswim, said RowanPellingin TheDaily
Telegraph.Shehad notimeforplatitudes,or pity. Recently,
she’drelayed how “a well-wisher” had direct-messaged her one
morningtosay,“I’msosad. Areyoualone?Willyou haveacarer
asthe cancerprogresses?”Orr told herfollowers:“Thinkhow
gorgeouslysadshe’llbe ifI’mabletoconfirmhersaddetails!
Don’tbethis well-wisher, kids!”Orrissurvived byher twosons.
DeborahOrr
1962-2019
Sidney Rittenbergwasan
idealisticAmericansoldier-
linguist whobefriended Mao
Zedong attheendofthe
SecondWorldWar,andspentthenext35years
livingincommunist China.Becomingasenior
memberofthe ChineseCommunist Party,he
had four chil dren with hisChin ese wife, and
endured two long stintsinpriso noncharges of
beingaCIA spy–somethinghealwaysdenied
–before eventually becoming disenchanted with
the regime.He returned to theUS in 19 80,but
even thenhe remained welcomein Be ijing, and
when the People’s Republicturned capitalist, he
grewrich too, introducing Westerncorporations
to the countryand providing business advice.
The rebelson of aprominent Jewish family,
Sidney Rittenbe rg wasborninCharleston, South Carolina in
1921.Hebecame involved in thetrade union movementwhile
at university, andjoined the American Communist Partyin 1940.
Twoyears later,hewas draftedinto thearmy, and–asatalented
linguist–was sentto Stanford to learnChinese. Arriving in China
in 1945,hewas shockedby the povertyand corruption underthe
Nationalistregime and,afte rbeing discharged,trek ked45days
acros sthe country to joinMao’s guerillaarmyatYan’an.Mao
was fascinated by the West,said TheGuardian: he and Rittenberg
wouldpore over US magazines, and watchLaurel andHardy
moviestogether.UnderhisMandarin name
LiDunbai,he joinedthePartyin 1946 ,
travellingaroundthecountrywith Maoand
witnessingmanyof theeventsthatled tothe
foundation in1949ofthePeople’sRepublic.
By then,however,Rittenberg hadbeenjailedon
suspicionofspying,said TheNew York Times.
He spentsix years in solitaryconf inementbefore
beingcleared. Yetheremained loyal, and joined
the Party’s propaganda division,helpingto
promote Mao’s Great Leap Forward–the
attempt totransform China’s agrarianeconomy
whichledtoafamineinwhich tens of mi llions
died. He playedan evengreaterroleint he early
partofthe Cultural Revolution.But in 1968, he
washimself denounced,byMao’s wife, and
spent another tenyears in jail.By the timehe
wasreleased, Mao haddied andChina wasindisarray.In 1980,
he tookhisfamily onholiday t othe U S, andstayed.Aman of
impish good humour,heworked as an academic before going
into business. In 2013, he described Mao asa“great historic
leader”, anda“great historic criminal”, andexpre ssed remorse
forhis rol einthe Cultural Revolution. “I tookpartinvictimising
innocent, goodpeople,” he said.“It wa sinstitutionalised bullying
and scapegoating,and Icouldn’t see it becauseeverything about
the regime wasgood for me, andIfeltIwaspartofamovement
for humanprogress, freedom andhappiness.”
Sidney
Rittenberg
1921-2019
Much-admired journalist known for her honesty and wit
Orr:keptoffbandwagons
Rittenberg: six years in solitary
The American who became an intimate of Chairman Mao
©D
AVID YEO/THE TIMES/NEWS LICENSING
