Another RIP – to author, bon viveur and good friend Sam Worthington

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Today we heard that the blogger, author and one of my oldest friends Sam Worthington (no, not the actor – the original one) sadly passed away on November 11th in Angeles City, Philippines.

His article, “How To Write A Restaurant Review” published here on HTWB back in 2011 has had nearly 20,000 reads. And so it should.

Sam had been a chef and publican (manager of pubs in the UK) for many years and also made it his business to review some of the best restaurants all around not the fanciest gourmet destinations necessarily, but good, honest restaurants across western and eastern Europe, the Far East and many other destinations.

For a list of all 12 articles in this series on how to write well to people dealing with death, bereavement and other life sadness, click here.

His reviews were sometimes critical, sometimes enthusiastic, but always fair.

Another book by Sam Worthington

His article here on HTWB led to him writing a short book called “How To Be A Savvy Restaurant Reviewer,” which was a very useful expansion and tutorial on how restaurant reviewers should go about doing their job properly.

I hope that this book will still be available now, after his passing. It shares his experience not only as a reviewer, but also as a chef and restaurant manager: a good balance between caring for the customer and understanding the real challenges of the catering industry.

Sam Worthington on politics and political correctness

Whether you loved them or hated them, Sam had some very powerful, interesting and always very controversial views on politics and government internationally.

You can check out some of his articles about his observations of world politics on this website of his, here. You may not like some of what he said, but you will like some of his logic.

And Sam Worthington, novelist

Sam also had a talent for picking up fiction ideas, often based on politics mixed with a bright creativity to make us think … perhaps a bit cynically … how our world could be shaped in the future.

You’ll find more about that on one of his websites, here.

I’m hoping that his family will keep this website going, not only in Sam’s memory, but also because everything Sam wrote was a “damned good read” and should be preserved.

Also, Sam Worthing, dyslexic

Yes, Sam was quite severely dyslexic.

When he was a school boy dyslexia wasn’t even a twinkle in the educational psychologists’ eyes, although in some private schools in the UK even back then some teachers were aware of it and helped pupils like Sam. He was lucky to attend one of those schools.

However much as there might have been some help, in Sam’s case it was his sheer grit and determination to write and share his thoughts that got him through his dyslexia and got him writing both fiction and nonfiction that so many of us have enjoyed.