Ed Stewart – an old friend of Astro

Ed Stewart, broadcaster and TV presenter died today.

I just heard the sad news that Ed Stewart died today. I met Ed on many occasions at various charity events that we were both involved with in some way. The last time I saw him was at our annual boxing event in aid of the Bud Flanagan Leukaemia Fund last October. The Bud Flanagan Leukaemia Fund has close ties with the Grand Order of Water Rats, of which Ed was a long standing member.

“Our table was growing and the laughter was spreading. Ed was an amazing host and great fun to be around.”

The first time I met Ed was around 12 years ago at a Christmas event organised by some business contacts. We were in a Thai restaurant in Waterloo and Ed was such great company, a very funny and warm man. I had a massive clash of engagements that day and this was my second Christmas lunch of the day and I had another two customer events that evening.

One of my colleagues at the lunch from the start had discovered that Ed was a big Everton fan. At the time we had four VIP season tickets at West Ham, so we invited Ed and two mutual friends to the Everton game towards the end of the season. I hosted the game and as usual we met in the VIP suite at 12 noon ready for a 3pm kick off. After a fantastic lunch with the wine flowing like a river we got to watch the game and then back to the suite for more wine. At 6pm we decided it was a respectable time to leave, however, when we got to our car for some reason we decided it would be a good idea to head for Covent Garden.

It was a lovely summers evening, ideal weather for drinks on the veranda in Covent Garden. We started with four if us at the table but as people were recognising Ed and coming over to say hello he invited them to join us for a chat. Our table was growing and the laughter was spreading. Ed was an amazing host and great fun to be around.

“Bearing in mind between the four of us we had consumed the entire annual output of a small vineyard…”

Ed was very engaging and always had a joke ready to tell and even after several years when I had heard many of his jokes before they were still as funny as when I first heard them because his timing was exceptional.

After Covent Garden we headed back to the Thai restaurant in Waterloo for dinner. Over dinner I asked Ed if he would consider being the guest of honour at a charity dinner for a small Autistic charity who were supporting my daughter at the time. As soon as he established the date was free he said yes on the spot and offered to talk a little about his pirate radio days, followed by a stand up routine and concluding as auctioneer.

We were with one of Ed’s old friends Mike Long, a very accomplished close magician. Mike also offered to provide some close magic and to assist Ed with the auction. Bearing in mind between the four of us we had consumed the entire annual output of a small vineyard I did not expect Ed or Mike to remember let alone take me seriously.

“It was great to have known you Ed, you will be sadly missed.”

Our charity dinner was an amazing success, with Ed and Mike playing giving our guests a fantastic evening. Ed and Mike were a fantastic double act and raised an amazing amount of money through the auction extracting every available penny out of an audience more than happy to part with their cash.

Although I saw Ed in October, the last time I had a chance to catch up with him was in October 2014. We were guests at the Vaudeville Golfing Society Annual Dinner for Bobby Davro’s beasting.

Christmas morning will not be the same without Ed’s Radio 2 show. It was great to have known you Ed, you will be sadly missed.