Tony Greenbank obituary

Tony Greenbank was an exhilarating colleague on the Guardian in the north, a writer whose wit, curiosity and exuberance made him a fine successor when Harry Griffin, the doyen of the Country Diary, died in harness in 2004 after 53 years of contributing from the English Lakes.

Tony, who has died aged 86, felt awed at first but was soon producing exceptional columns. A fearless rock climber like Griffin, he reached places others could not. His personal warmth gave extra space for people, whose role in the diary had often been secondary, among them refugees learning shepherding skills and the surgeon who refettled his hip. He also drew on the nous of the Yorkshire Dales farmers who had been in his family for generations.

He was born in Settle, North Yorkshire, son of Anthony Greenbank, who worked for ICI, and Marjorie (nee Hunt), a music teacher who played the church organ at Horton in Ribblesdale for 50 years. He was educated at Horton village school and nearby Giggleswick school followed by national service in the RAF. In 1958 he married Mary Murray, a nurse, and they had a daughter, Heather.

Working as an Outward Bound instructor after a stint in local libraries, he sent an adventure story to Eagle comic and his career in journalism began. Most of his work involved the north and the hills but his classic The Book of Survival (1968) was an international hit and led to memorable TV interviews in the US with Johnny Carson and David Frost. After his first marriage ended, Tony married Chrissie Houghton, also a nurse, in 1976, and they had two children, Mark and Hannah.

He brought adventure home, taking his children on night-time hunts for caves or starting them on solo fell walks with just a map and a promise to meet them at the end. They sensed that he led life in his own terms. After the success of The Book of Survival, he came home impulsively with a metallic purple soft-top Ford Capri. When his hip operation coincided with the Queen Mother’s, he was pictured soon afterwards on a rock face by a Cumbrian paper with the headline: “Bet You Can’t Do This Ma’am”.

Tony’s second marriage ended in divorce. He is survived by Heather, Hannah and Mark, and by Rebecca, his daughter from his relationship with Pamela Cotterill; as well as by four grandchildren, Harry, Billy, Ishbelle and Josh, and his brother, John. He was given to saying, startlingly, that New York reminded him of the Lakes - because of a shared sense of community. But Tony created a community wherever he was.