A lesson in partying from much-loved chef Clarissa Theresa Philomena Aileen Mary Josephine Agnes Elsie Trilby Louise Esmerelda Dickson Wright — her parents gave her 10 middle names — who passed away on Saturday.
One of her own favourite stories about life came from her book Spilling the Beans, in which she contemplated mortality at her 50th birthday party held at the Duke of Hamilton’s house in Scotland, featuring a Jamaican steel band.
“Everyone I cared about was there,” she recalled. “… and come 3am the disco finished the musical side of the evening with another rendition of Ra Ra Rasputin.
“There I was whirling on the dancefloor with great joy and energy when I felt a terrible pain in my left breast. I thought I was having a heart attack it so was acute, but I kept on dancing and the pain got worse.
“Well, I thought, what a perfect time to go. When the music stopped and I staggered to a chair, I discovered — heart attack, my foot — I’d broken my underwired bra!”
