Michelle hanson the guardian

Her writing covered both observations on the everyday and comments on wider societal issues, from the ecological effects of manmade waste to the cruelty of factory-farmed poultry.

Kira Cochrane, the newspaper’s head of features, described her as “a joy” to work with, who was “as brilliant in person as she was on the page”.

She said: “A coffee with Michele always led to her sharing the most incredible – and often unrepeatable – stories.

“I always came away feeling very lucky that the Guardian was the place where she told all the stories that were fit to print, for her ever growing army of devoted readers.

“I’m so sad we won’t have a chance to hear more of her stories, and so glad she shared so many with us over the years.

She wrote about bringing up her daughter "Treasure", teaching, living in London, pets, and looking after her mother, a respected chef who lived to be over 100.

She was adored.”

A fundraising page has been set up in Ms Hanson’s memory, with donations going to her daughter’s charity Small Steps Project. It’s just so sad she wasn’t around to see all the nice things people said about her.

“She never had a massive amount of confidence about her writing.

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The ‘religious atheist’ author held a reputation as CS Lewis’s opposite.

She moved to Islington about 40 years ago.

Alongside her acclaimed Guardian column, she wrote several books, including What the Grown-ups Were Doing, Treasure: The Trials of a Teenage Terror, and Living With Mother.

“Treasure” was the nickname given to her daughter Amy, 37, and was the focus of Ms Hanson’s columns as she raised her through her testing teenage years.

Art historian and friend Tanya Harrod, who first met her in 1979, said: “She was very committed to pointing out injustices.

Her work is characteristic of one of the bestGuardian commissioning traditions, the autobiographical column, often from non-professional writers, that shines a vivid light on seemingly mundane things. I’ll miss her as a writer, a columnist and a friend, as I know her readers will, too.”

Born in London in 1942 and raised in Ruislip, she was the only child of Arthur Hanson, who ran a factory making women’s fashion accessories, the Guardian wrote this week.

She was educated at Haberdashers’ Aske’s school, which was then in Acton, west London, before attending art school, and then training as a teacher.

She was a trustee of the Small Steps Project, a charity established by her daughter, Amy, and was planning to write a biography of Queen Charlotte, the wife of King George III.

Ms Hanson’s close friend Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader and MP of Islington North, where she lived, described her as a “wonderful, witty, zany, humane, caring and ever decent part of our community and life”.

Michele Hanson, who died last Friday, wrote a column for the Guardian for more than 30 years

MICHELE Hanson’s writing touched the lives of thousands: those looking after their mothers, parents living with a troublesome teenager and those facing the injustices of modern society.

The talented writer, who held a column in the Guardian for more than 30 years, died last Friday aged 75, suffering a stroke after walking her beloved dogs.

Labour leader and Islington North MP ­Jeremy Corbyn was among those leading tributes to the mother-of-one, describing her as a “very witty and wonderful person”.

He said: “She was a wonderful, witty, zany, humane, caring, ever-decent person who amused, informed and inspired all at the same time and did a great deal to entertain for a very many years.”

Ms Hanson with daughter Amy

As well as being a passionate writer, Ms Hanson was equally as devoted to issues locally in Tufnell Park, where she had lived for many years.

We talked about everything really, from politics but also life in general, what it was like to be a mother and a daughter.

“She was very political and hated injustice, but she wasn’t at all bitter.”

In her younger years, Ms Hanson (above) had a stall on Portobello Market. She was always an activist and getting involved in campaigns.

She was irreplaceable, her columns reach out to everyone. (2005)
Living with Mother review on Goodreads