Julie Koopman

I first met Gill at Leeds University, staying in the house in Brudenel Mount as a guest of Debbie Sellman. It was the weekend of the Leeds JSoc Ball.  The house was a social hub amongst the ball attendees.  The lovely people who lived in that house have been my friends ever since.  In fact, I met Paul, my husband, that weekend.

 

I recall being at a fireworks display in Bushey on the night Book Club was conceived. Gill, Lisa Stone, Simone, Alexis I think were also there and it has always been a bone of contention as to who’s idea it actually was.  The 9 of us have been meeting for about 25 years, (the date it started is also somewhat debatable), meeting every 6 weeks or so for an evening meal and chat.  Often it could feel like discussion about the book was secondary.  I can profess to being one of the least active readers in the group, whist Gill was amongst the most prolific.  I always marvelled at how much she read and concluded, pre-covid, that having the ‘advantage’ of a daily commute allowed her the time to devour the books.

 

Since Book Club has been going for such a long time the group has seen many life events together.  Our own engagements, weddings, birth of children, bar and bat mitzvahs – all joyful events, and sadly also parent’s passing and Andy’s passing; but never in a million years did we envisage our darling Gill would be taken from us.  Things will not be the same without her.

 

Gill was one of the kindest people I know, always finding something good to say about any situation, from saying that a meal was delicious to make the host feel better when it was in fact a particularly bland meal, to suggesting there was an alternative reason for someone saying something that on the face of it was not nice.  She always made you think about whether your perspective was correct. And yet she also stood her ground when she thought something was wrong – like it wasn’t acceptable to be part of Book Club but not read the books!  She also often had an alternative take on a book to the rest of us and was never shy of sharing that.

 

Gill was a compassionate, kind, empathetic, intelligent and strong minded woman who made a hugely positive contribution.  She is someone to emulate and to have forever in our hearts.  We will miss her greatly.