Ruth Picardie

Ruth Nadine Picardie (1 May 1964, Reading, Berkshire, England, UK – 22 September 1997) was an English journalist and editor.

Early life

Ruth Picardie was born on 1 May 1964 in Reading. She was the daughter of South African émigrés. She read Social Anthropology at King's College, Cambridge.

Career

Picardie worked as an editor and journalist for The Guardian and The Independent newspapers in the UK. She also contributed to other publications, such as the New Statesman. Her memoir of living with breast cancer, Before I Say Goodbye, was published posthumously, culled from five columns written for the Observer's magazine Life, and from her personal correspondence. These were collected and edited by her husband, Matt Seaton and her sister, Justine Picardie.

Personal life

Picardie married Matt Seaton in Worthing, West Sussex in 1994. They had two children, twins Joe Louis and Lola May (born 1995, Lambeth). He is a keen competitive cyclist, is the author of The Escape Artist, which concentrates on his love of amateur cycling but also chronicled his wife's struggle with breast cancer.

Death and legacy

Ruth Picardie died in Lambeth, London, aged 33. Her sister, Justine Picardie, with Beth Wagstaff (soon afterwards, another victim of the disease), established The Lavender Trust in her sister's memory.^[1][2] The Trust focuses on raising funds and support for younger women suffering from breast cancer. Picardie and Wagstaff's surgeon, Puvaneswary Markandoo, was subsequently found responsible for other misdiagnosis and negligence in surgical operations on women, and was removed from the medical register ('struck off') by the General Medical Council in December 2011.^[3]

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