It is with profound sadness that we learn our friend, Tony Kane, died on 17 December after a long illness.

Tony was an active member of Wimbledon Labour Party over many years and was Vice-Chair until last year.  He was also on the Management Committee of William Morris House and was keen to decorate the House in a style befitting the legacy of William Morris.  He was also a moving force and judge at the annual William Morris Arts Award.

Tony studied at Croydon and Goldsmiths College of Art, and taught art for over 35 years to all ages including primary, secondary, 6th Form College and adult institutes.

In 1997, he retired from full time teaching though he continued to exhibit his work and remained artist inresidence to an informal class held in his studio,The Work Shop.

In retirement he realised there was a gap in the market for a local arts and event magazine and Time and Leisure was born.  Now a lifestyle magazine with a monthly circulation of 106,000, it started out around Tony’s kitchen table with him and his daughter cutting and pasting the layout.

Tony also co-founded Wimbledon Bookfest, a charity promoting arts, culture and education. Its aim was to develop the cultural offering for Wimbledon through provision of an annual arts festival with an emphasis on educational projects with schools and young people.  The Bookfest now hosts almost 100 events over a 10 day period on Wimbledon Common and has grown from 1,000 visitors in its first year to over 15,000 with 7,000 school children attending the festival last year.

He was author of If Britain Had Fallen, a novel set in 1940, depicting the fall of Britain to an invasion by Nazi Germany and of a series of illustrated books for children, The Railway Mice.

Brenda Grant (Secretary, Wimbledon Labour Party)

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