If this is true, terrible news. This deserves a leader in all papers, full repeats of Walters' Weekly on Radio 1, and his appearance on Room 101 in 1992 should be broadcast on the hour every hour for the whole day. On every station.

How old would he have been? 63?

Heartbreaking.

Fuck! I was listening to his 'Room 101'(1992) all day yesterday, on a loop.

Walters was a great man, wonderful raconteur and Peel's staunchest supporter. He will be very sorely missed in my house.

Worth listening to Peel tonight I suspect, unless the news is a day or two late.

The thing is, I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere else. But I did hear it. So I'm a little confused. Why isn't the BBC News site mentioning it?

Are you sure it wasn't John Waters?

>Are you sure it wasn't John Waters?

No, no. Donaldson mentioned Walters Weekly and everything. Said he had died aged 63. I immediately went and told my wife the news.

And now I think I might be going mad.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/entertainment/tv_and_radio/newsid_1466000/1466344.stm

Far sadder than the BES debacle. RIP.

I don't think there was a single time that I listened to John Walters and he didn't make me laugh. A naturally funny, hugely enthusiastic, inspiring broadcaster.

A couple of weeks ago, a recently met friend of mine told me he had once worked with Walters on a show involving Keith Moon and Vivian Stanshall.

When I got excited, he told me he'd get in touch with JW and fix up a meeting so I could plug him for stories, since Walters was always affable and enthusiastic to chat.

That won't be happening now. How very very sad.

RIP.

Very sad indeed; he was a fantastic raconteur, wit and all round good guy.

Yet Edmonds lives...

I was always taken by his description of Johnny Rotten as 'a little boy I wouldn't trust to hand out the scissors'.

Very sad.

"Twenty tiny fingers, twenty tiny toes!"

I'll never forget that anecdote in "The Nation's Favourite" about the mysterious records that were sent to him by 'the God of Snibri'.

A sad day for radio.

>"Twenty tiny fingers, twenty tiny toes!"

[JW shrieks a laugh]

Nick Hancock: Now what is all that about?

JW: She [Alma Cogan] was known as The Girl With The Laff In Her Voice. So, every song... I mean, if she was singing [Gravely] "The Death March"...[shrieks]

You'd really need to *hear* all this. Mike, Bent, do you have the facility to put up extracts from the Room 101 recording? I only have a cassette recording, unfortunately.

I still haven't given the software my undivided attention. I'll pass a tape onto Joe, maybe for a tribute snippet?