Tordie

These posts are in loving memory of my incomparable aunt Tordie - Victoria Venetia Woods née Stanley - who died on Friday. She was one in a million: full of life, intelligent, witty, talented, modest, and with a huge capacity for making friends. Born June 29, 1917, she died only a few months before her 90th birthday, still the same as ever, with an energy and vitality that was undimmed. A brilliant conversationalist and an enthusiastic listener, she would enter into any subject that came up, but her years as a singer left her with an enduring love of music and opera in particular. She had an encyclopaedic knowledge of opera and a phenomenal memory which enabled her to recall musical experiences going back to 1925, when her mother brought her downstairs to sing for Melba. When she stayed with us I would buy The Times so that she could do the crossword, though she disapproved of the Murdoch media's politics. She was not one of those who move to the right as they get older; she was always a passionate advocate of equality, of race, gender and sexual orientation, and of course she opposed the Iraq war. I loved her very dearly and will miss her tremendously.