12 Facts About Simon Hoggart

Simon David Hoggart was an English journalist and broadcaster.

Simon Hoggart wrote on politics for The Guardian, and on wine for The Spectator.

Simon Hoggart was born on 26 May 1946 in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, and educated at Hymers College in Kingston upon Hull, Wyggeston Boys' School in Leicester, and then King's College, Cambridge, where he excelled at history and English.

Simon Hoggart was the son of the literary scholar and sociologist Richard Hoggart, and Mary Holt Hoggart.

Simon Hoggart's brother is the Times television critic Paul Hoggart.

Simon Hoggart lived in South London with his wife, Alyson, a clinical psychologist, and their two children, Amy and Richard.

Simon Hoggart was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer in mid-2010 and died of the disease at Royal Marsden Hospital on 5 January 2014.

Simon Hoggart was a contributor to the Grumpy Old Men and wrote for Punch magazine and an occasional column for New Humanist magazine.

Simon Hoggart was an occasional celebrity panellist on BBC2's antiques quiz show Going, Going, Gone.

Simon Hoggart's published books form an eclectic list, including debunking the supernatural, anecdotes about Parliament, a biography, his thoughts about the United States, a serious political review and collected Christmas round-robin letters.

Simon Hoggart coined the phrase "the law of the ridiculous reverse", "which states that if the opposite of a statement is plainly absurd, it was not worth making in the first place".

When speculation appeared in the News of the World in December 2004 suggesting he was the "third man" in the Kimberly Quinn affair, Simon Hoggart initially denied any involvement before issuing a statement admitting that he had an extra-marital affair with Quinn before her own marriage.