In den vergangenen Tagen hatte ich es versäumt, die Nachrufseite des Telegraph zu lesen. So wurde ich erst heute auf den Nachruf für Lord Michael Pratt aufmerksam, der mir bis dato völlig unbekannt war. Aber nachdem sich der Nachrufe-Redakteur des Telegraph für die Beschreibung des Lebens seiner Lordschaft im heutigen Telegraph entschuldigen musste (“The good, the bad and the dearly departed”), habe ich mir den Artikel über das Leben des Lord Pratt noch einmal aus dem Telegraph-Archiv geholt. Er sei hiermit allen Lesern der Achse des Guten wärmstens empfohlen, denn er zeigt, welche Art von Humor sogar in Nachrufen seriöser Tageszeitungen in England gepflegt wird.
Hier schon einmal ein paar Höhepunkte aus dem Leben des Lord Pratt:
Lord Michael Pratt, who has died aged 61, will be remembered as one of the last Wodehouseian figures to inhabit London’s clubland and as a much travelled author who pined for the days of Empire; he will also be remembered as an unabashed snob and social interloper on a grand scale. ...
He graduated with a Second in Modern History, however, causing some consternation in the family, who had hoped for a First. His mother, the Marchioness, suspected him of being idle; Pratt maintained that he was unable to study owing to a broken leg. In fact, both these things were true. ...
After graduating Pratt found a position at Lazard Brothers, the merchant bank. Three months into his new job, however, he judged that it would be more agreeable to attend Royal Ascot than to turn up at the office, and his services were dispensed with. He never again sought full-time employment. ...
Pratt’s working day would usually start with a large gin and tonic before he meandered towards White’s Club in St James. He was a great social genealogist, and took much pleasure in regaling listeners with stories of family matters. Towards the end of his life, however, he found himself barred from one of his clubs. Ironically, this was Pratt’s, where he was asked to leave the premises following a spectacular altercation with a waitress.
