Brother Harold Palmer lived alone in the wilds by choice
The Northumbrian hermit died on October 4th, aged 93
Sometime in 1970 Brother Harold Palmer, then living in a house of the Society of St Francis, received a strange parcel in the post. He never knew who had sent it. It contained a mason’s trowel, a set square, a plumb-line and a surveyor’s measuring tape. Plainly, he had building to do.
This article appeared in the Obituary section of the print edition under the headline “Brother Harold Palmer”
Obituary December 21st 2024
More from Obituary
Jimmy Carter was perhaps the most virtuous of all America’s presidents
The humble peanut farmer who went to the White House died on December 29th, aged 100
Shalom Nagar was picked by lottery to kill Adolf Eichmann
The Israeli prison officer turned ritual slaughterer died on November 26th, aged 88
John Kinsel used his own language to fool the Japanese
One of the last Navajo code-talkers died on October 19th, aged 107
Celeste Caeiro’s small gesture named a revolution
The Portuguese restaurant worker and single mother died on November 15th, aged 91
Frank Auerbach aimed only at one memorable image
Britain’s most obsessive figurative painter died on November 11th, aged 93
Baltazar Ushca climbed Chimborazo twice a week
The last Ecuadorean ice-harvester died on October 11th, aged 80