Simon Blumenfeld, The Stage writer who held the Guinness World
Record as the oldest weekly columnist, has died in Barnet Hospital,
aged 97.
As a young man, Blumenfeld made his mark as a left-wing
activist and writer. In the 1930s he wrote prolifically on politics,
sport and entertainment, and after wartime service, worked on a variety
of magazines, including Band Wagon and Weekly Sporting Review.
By the 1960s he was light entertainment editor of The Stage, writing under the byline Sidney Vauncez.
In
June 1994, at the age of nearly 87, he became columnist of the
newlylaunched Heydays page and in 2004 the Guinness Book of Records
confirmed Blumenfeld as the oldest journalist writing a column on a
nationally available weekly newspaper.
Stage editor Brian Attwood said: “He was a remarkable man, an outstanding journalist and a very dear friend.”
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