Comments on: Albie Fiore

By: Brendan

Brendan — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 10:45:00 +0000

I, too, only heard this news today through the joint Paul/Enigmatist puzzle which the wife and I have not yet started on. It is very sad to get to know someone only through their obituary. Our sincere condolences to his wife and family.

By: smutchin

smutchin — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 09:24:30 +0000

I missed this announcement (thanks for the pointer, Eileen), so the first I heard of Taupi’s death was today’s Guardian crossword tribute by Paul and Enigmatist.

To be honest, Taupi not being one of the more notorious setters (and my memory being poor), I had to look back through the archive to remind myself of whether or not I’m a fan of his stuff! Doing so, I found the blog for Guardian puzzle no.24,613 on 3 Feb, which I remember was a particularly brilliant piece of work.

That puzzle includes some fine examples of the kind of wit that is the main reason I love cryptic crosswords.

A very sad loss to the world of cryptic crosswords.

By: Steven

Steven — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 23:19:15 +0000

Such a shame. My heart goes out to Albies friends and family.

Thanks for the crosswords Taupi.

R.I.P mate.

By: wilf johnson

wilf johnson — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 22:17:48 +0000

I’ve known albie for most of my life, i was best friends with his son theo.
I always used to love coming round and watching albie draw his many artistic animations.
I remeber when he used to pick me and theo up from school in yr 1-2 on his bike with 3 seats on it, and then he used to treat us by going to the sweet shop.
And then we’d ride home and watch jaws over and over again.
Albie will be missed very much.
A very kind and honest man, and is such a shock to all of his family and friends.
R.I.P
xx

By: IanP

IanP — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 08:56:10 +0000

Sorry to hear this. Though perhaps not as openly vaunted as some of his colleagues he never disappointed.

By: gsgeorge

gsgeorge — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 07:53:04 +0000

I admired Albie.. his puzzles were a joy to solve.
Deepest condolences.
Dr.G.S

By: Sue Fiore

Sue Fiore — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 20:57:58 +0000

The family has a memorial blog at http://albiefiore.wordpress.com/ – please add your own memories and thoughts of Albie.

By: croque

croque — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:53:53 +0000

That’s beautiful, julia.

R.I.P. Taupi.

By: julia

julia — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 09:13:17 +0000

I knew that Albie wrote puzzles, books, crosswords. It ends there. To me Albie was a Dad, a brilliant, amazing, nutty Dad and the dearest friend anyone could wish for. Bloomsbury, Holborn, Kings Cross will be a sadder, bleaker place without Albie cycling around on his butchers bike, berret perched on top of the mass of mad curlyness.
His wife Sue and children Iggy, Theo and Millie have now to contemplate life without this kind, lovely, fantastic genius of a man. To me that is hard enough, I cannot simply imagine this kind of loss though I will forever smile at the memories through my tears.

By: Rufus

Rufus — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 08:48:57 +0000

I only knew Albie from his puzzles which were always a joy to solve. In the days setters used to have get-togethers in London and Manchester for the FT and Guardian, he was never there when I managed to attend. I should have liked and, from all accounts, enjoyed meeting him. He will be sadly missed.