Author name: David Parkin

I’M feeling a little bit overwhelmed. There were some lovely comments prompted by last week’s blog about Rodney Dalton. But the biggest thing to come out of it was that so many other people felt exactly the same about the late, legendary Leeds lawyer as I did. So many people knew him in so many […]

THIS is the blog that I hoped I never had to write. My friend Rodney Dalton died this week. He had stoically and successfully overcome two cancer diagnoses over the last two years but the ferocity with which it returned earlier this summer was too much. I visited him in hospital just over two weeks

MORNING! That felt like a long break. This blog was last published just over a month ago and the past four weeks have included a holiday driving through France to stay with friends in Provence, catching up with old pals, watching Derby County win in the Championship (these rare pleasures must be savoured) and even

PRIOR to a few days ago, the last wedding I went to was my own. But then last week I went to two weddings in three days. My former Yorkshire Post colleague Graeme Bandeira, a talented and award-winning cartoonist and artist, married his partner Karen at the Yorkshire Hotel in Harrogate. It was great to

WHEREVER you travel in the world there are reminders of home. Sometimes they are not easy to spot, but if you look hard enough, you’ll find them. It happened to me earlier this week. Our final destination on an island hopping holiday in the Cyclades was Naxos, the largest of this beautiful archipelago. On the

GARETH Southgate’s resignation as manager of England was not unexpected news this week. After taking his team to the final of another tournament, they again missed out on a trophy. To update the words of the song, there has now been “58 years of hurt” for England fans. But it doesn’t really feel like that.

THERE have been plenty of third party reflections on the 10th anniversary of the Grand Depart of the Tour de France in Yorkshire but the one thing missing from them all are words from the man himself. I went up to the Yorkshire Dales farmhouse which is home to Sir Gary Verity to speak to

DON’T worry, I’m not going to mention the election. I made that mistake yesterday. When I visited the offices of a large law firm in Leeds I commented to the receptionist that I was surprised to see a polling station in the ground floor lobby of the building. She told me that she had voted

ONE of the ironies of the Honours List is that it doesn’t really pay tribute to the people who receive awards. Twice a year around 1,000 people are honoured by the monarch. And because of the numbers involved, the list, announced by the Cabinet Office, is very much that: a list. It leaves just a

“SINCERITY is the key to success. Once you can fake that you’ve got it made.” Credited to Groucho Marx, the quote above raises a smile. I’ve always thought that away from the world of showbiz, in the real business world you’ll always get found out if you fake it. But if you really are authentic,