Clive Everton was a pillar of the snooker community - Yorkshire Post Letters
From: Geoffrey Brooking, Havant, Hampshire.
What a shame it was to hear of the passing of snooker commentator Clive Everton.
The tribute paid to him at the British Open snooker championship, whose trophy is named after him, in Cheltenham that went out Live on ITV4 was nothing short of sensational.
Clive and I were friends for many wonderful years, especially from 1992 to 1997 when I wrote for a number of newspapers and did private consulting for two major bookmakers on the world snooker tour.
We had breakfast together twice. First at the Hilton Hotel in Wembley in 1990 the morning after Stephen Hendry won the Benson and Hedges Masters and second at the Novotel Hotel in Sheffield the morning after Stephen Hendry beat Jimmy White in a final frame decider at the 1994 world championship.
Clive and I shared many other snooker arenas together, the most notable of which I believe was Ronnie O'Sullivan winning the UK snooker championship as a 17-year-old in 1993 and Stephen Hendry becoming the youngest ever world champion in 1990.
Indeed, the highlight of my snooker year was ringing up to renew my subscription to Clive's magazine, ‘Snooker Scene’ and having our annual chat together.
My late Dad, who played Clive once when Clive won the Midlands amateur snooker championship in the 1960s, had every copy of Snooker Scene from the very first issue in 1971 right up to his passing in 2012 that he left to me. Since then I've added twelve more years worth of my favourite magazine to my collection, even after Clive retired as editor due to his failing health.
Which simply underlines what a magnificent journalist for the Guardian and Snooker Scene Clive Everton really was on top of his duties as a commentator and what a great legacy Clive has left behind to all of us who will so miss both his television tones and a much respected personal friendship.