Harry Leslie Smith RIP

[ajsmith2]

His son announced his passing on Twitter.

[ajsmith2]

Edit: sorted.

[Absorb the anus burn]

I don't think Harry would mind.... In fact, he'd laugh ;-)

I saw him talk a few years back and he was fantastic... A real hero.

RIP.

[biggytitbo]

Seemed like a great bloke.


Loved his reply just the other week to someone lambasting him for not 'supporting the troops' during the poppy appeal.

[Depressed Beyond Tables]

Fuck autocorrect and me for being so careless.

Can we just pretend all the tiresome one liners about me messing up his name have already been done and we can get on with the intended point of the thread?

Even better, can the thread title be amended to Harry? Would love that if it's possible.

You know you can edit a title just like a post (within a time frame I think)?

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Amazing man.

Not many people left who have the memory of real hardship - twinned with his intelligence and obstinacy he cut through right wing rhetoric so adroitly and so often, I think he is a hero for that alone.

Can't be sad that a man of that age has passed away, what a life. Done more in the last fifteen years as a geriatric than some of us will do in our lives.

Loved him talking recently about his plans for the future and it was clear he was going to devote his life to pursuing social justice until he passed away. RIP

[the]

Even better, can the thread title be amended to Harry? Would love that if it's possible.

You know you can edit a title just like a post (within a time frame I think)?

Yes - ajsmith2, you can edit the title yourself, if you do it within the next couple of hours.

[Monsieur Verdoux]

in an era that seems so full of disappointment, complications and compromise, he really stood out as someone who seemed to be a decent person trying as hard as he could to do the right thing. there's not enough of them, and now there's one less

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

in an era that seems so full of disappointment, complications and compromise, he really stood out as someone who seemed to be a decent person trying as hard as he could to do the right thing. there's not enough of them, and now there's one less

Fewer

Just trying to do the right thing

[Monsieur Verdoux]

tedious

[ajsmith2]

Yes - ajsmith2, you can edit the title yourself, if you do it within the next couple of hours.

You know you can edit a title just like a post (within a time frame I think)?

Thanks folks, sure I knew that at one point but I'd forgotten. Pretty dumb of me. Sorted now.

[Josef K]

Such a shame, he was obviously a great, inspirational guy. Seemed like he had an incredible life.

Possibly unpopular opinion but I always thought his son obviously pretending to be him on Twitter was a kind of shitty thing to do. Nobody actually believed a 90 year old man was firing off tweet after tweet did they?

[Large Noise]

Such a shame, he was obviously a great, inspirational guy. Seemed like he had an incredible life.

Possibly unpopular opinion but I always thought his son obviously pretending to be him on Twitter was a kind of shitty thing to do. Nobody actually believed a 90 year old man was firing off tweet after tweet did they?

Everyone did, yes.

[ajsmith2]

Carl Reiner is still tweeting regularly at 96, so it's not impossible. Unless someone's gonna tell me hes faking it too.

[biggytitbo]

Such a shame, he was obviously a great, inspirational guy. Seemed like he had an incredible life.

Possibly unpopular opinion but I always thought his son obviously pretending to be him on Twitter was a kind of shitty thing to do. Nobody actually believed a 90 year old man was firing off tweet after tweet did they?

It was getting a bit weird when he was in hospital tbh, when he was relaying things Harry was supposedly saying whilst drifting in and out of consciousness, which kind of sounded like he was making up.

[Twed]

Many tears, but every circumstance of his later life is something to celebrate.

[biggytitbo]

Nice to see Corbyn mention him in PMs questions.

[Huxleys Babkins]

It was getting a bit weird when he was in hospital tbh, when he was relaying things Harry was supposedly saying whilst drifting in and out of consciousness, which kind of sounded like he was making up.

Yeah, his son was absolutely milking the fuck out of his last few days. Really intrusive pictures and claiming that he was getting better. Robbed him of his dignity at the very end.

[Twed]

Shh, we can't fix that and it doesn't matter what we think about his son. Celebrate Harry.

[Wet Blanket]

Yeah, his son was absolutely milking the fuck out of his last few days. Really intrusive pictures and claiming that he was getting better. Robbed him of his dignity at the very end.

That's a bit harsh. It was pretty morbid to observe from the outside but it probably helped him get through the naturally horrible process of watching your old man die. Some of his tweets about being an orphan and wrapping himself in the blanket his dad died in suggest he's not coping all that well and I hope he has a decent support network around him.

Presumably it was him all along being Smith's twitter presence. His bulliish and sometimes sweary reactions to gobshites online, while amusing, did seem at odds with the personality of the avuncular 90-year-old seen in interviews, and 90-year-olds in general. 

[biggytitbo]

I hope that's not the case.

[holyzombiejesus]

Yeah, his son was absolutely milking the fuck out of his last few days. Really intrusive pictures and claiming that he was getting better. Robbed him of his dignity at the very end.

At least you are here to judge the actions of his grieving son. Well done.

[biggytitbo]

I think it just highlights how facile social media is more than anything.

[The Always Red Society]

The idea that Harry Leslie Smith couldn't possibly be tweeting opinions entirely in line with those he has presented at literally 100s of public appearances and interviews always seemed like smug concern trolling to me. That originated from right wing fucks like Guido Fawkes with no evidence too.

His son's behaviour over the last few days could be said to be a bit odd, but he's a bloke who was losing his dad who he had spent years living and travelling with. He obviously found comfort in linking in to the affection for Harry online. According to some people that makes him a ghoul and a cunt. Lovely.

Anyway, Harry was clearly a fantastic bloke. I always found his accounts of his childhood incredibly moving, and his passion for fighting for what he believed in was very inspiring.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Yeah, his son was absolutely milking the fuck out of his last few days. Really intrusive pictures and claiming that he was getting better. Robbed him of his dignity at the very end.

You don't know their relationship other than the fragments you've glimpsed so I think a comment like the last sentence is inappropriate and verging towards the vulgarity you're claiming to find so offensive.

[TrenterPercenter]

Ahhh first I heard of this was from PMQs today.  Shit but as other people have said what a life and what a great guy.  A real bonafide hero with class, heart and compassion for people less fortunate than him.

RIP Harry

[Thursday]

I suspect a lot of it was the son tweeting, but they were things that seemed to be pretty much in line with Harry Leslie Smith would think anyway.

Either way, weird target to go after, especially weird to really start hammering on that point in the last few days instead of just leaving it for a while.

[Twit 2]

I'm gonna call him a massive cunt, for balance. Should have died in the war. Cunt.

note to board police: this is not my actual opinion....
 

[garnish]

Yeah, his son was absolutely milking the fuck out of his last few days. Really intrusive pictures and claiming that he was getting better. Robbed him of his dignity at the very end.

He said that Harry had told him previously that he should tweet about what's happening when it comes to the end.  From the sounds of the tweets, his son was on his own with his dying father and needed an outlet.  It might come across as 'milking' but I think that's more to do with Harry's passing happening over days rather than minutes and his son had a lot of time alone in the hospital.

[garnish]

The idea that Harry Leslie Smith couldn't possibly be tweeting opinions entirely in line with those he has presented at literally 100s of public appearances and interviews always seemed like smug concern trolling to me. That originated from right wing fucks like Guido Fawkes with no evidence too.

A few months back, a lot of the smug FBPE anti-Corbyn crowd on Twitter were trying to kick off a conspiracy that all his tweets were written by his publishers.  It's like they couldn't reconcile him being 'one of the goodies' with his pro-Corbyn, anti-austerity views and decided he must be being manipulated.