Neil Philip, Man of Myth and Folktale

Today we said goodbye to a wonderful friend, the folktale and myth scholar Neil Philip. The North Oxford Crematarium was full of people, like us, whose lives have been made richer by Neil and his wife, the artist Emma Bradford.

Neil was the author of over 70 books, mostly on children's literature, mythology, folktales and fairy tales. At Neil's funeral Philip Pullman recalled the impact of Neil's book The Cinderalla Story on how Pullman viewed fairy tales. And I recall with great pleasure the discussions my husband and I had with Neil, sat at his kitchen table usually with a fine bottle of wine (or two) on hand. Neil's knowledge was second to none and always imparted generously.

Neil was brilliant reteller of folktales and myths. His hugely influential book The Watkins Book of English Folktales, previously published as the The Penguin Book of English Folktales, is an absolute must for anyone interested in folktales and British tradition.

As an editor Neil produced a number of poetry anthologies for children, including The New Oxford Book of Children's Verse and The Family Treasury of Poetry. He was a very good poet in his own right and was always very encouraging of my work.

I am glad that I included Neil in the acknowledgements in Something In Nothing, glad too that his copy of the collection arrived before his death, but I am sad that we will never get the chance to sit at the kitchen table together and talk about it over a glass or three of wine.