Hodder pays tribute to Sir Michael Parkinson, ‘a man who made others feel better’

Hodder & Stoughton has paid tribute to broadcaster and author Sir Michael Parkinson, who died “peacefully, at home” aged 88 on 16th August 2023 following a brief illness.

Hodder published all 10 of Parkinson’s published works, which it says have sold over 500,000 copies collectively. These included his autobiography Parky (2008) and more recent books which reflected his great love of sport and talent as a sports journalist, Muhammad Ali: A Memoir (2016), George Best: A Memoir (2018) and most recently My Sporting Life (2022), which Hodder will publish in paperback in October 2023.

Recent books, including Like Father, Like Son: A Family Story (2020), were co-authored by his son Mike Parkinson, and their joint stage show was touring literary festivals as recently as this year.

His publisher, Roddy Bloomfield, said: “As gifted as you can get in so many fields, Sir Michael was a man who made others feel better, the closer they got to him. Of the 2,000 guests on the Parkinson show, which included many famous names, among them a number from the world of sport, there was hardly one who didn’t immediately begin to relax and give a fine performance.

“As his publisher throughout both our careers of over 50 years, I was always aware of the care I had to take in editing his books, but not once did he fail to show his real gratitude for the work involved when the excellent books were delivered.”

Bloomfield described Parkinson as a “fine writer” whose articles were “always entertaining as well as giving a clear analytical view of the sport itself – not just his devotion to Yorkshire cricket, which, like his father, he loved so much.

“He was a close friend of Geoffrey Boycott and Dickie Bird and played with them for his county on several occasions. In one of his earliest books, I gave him some quotes for the back of the jacket. He approved them, but said he wanted to add one more, which was: ‘Parkinson should go far – preferably Australia!’ He was a great friend, and a great man and he will be deeply missed. Our thoughts are with his wife Mary, his three sons and the rest of his family and friends.”