Mr. Ritchie was my 3rd Form and English
master when I entered MTS in 1990/91. He
always wanted us to do well, and taught
with enthusiasm and passion. I remember
fondly a trip he arranged for us to see Tales
of Hoffman in theWest End.
He loved his cricket and I recount his
frustration, which I shared, with the England
selectors when David Gower was left out of
the England tour party to India in 1992. He
had a long discussion with me about the
issue lamenting Gower’s omission.
I also appreciated the time when I broke
my collar bone in the Upper Thirds and he
sent me a cricket book with a note “ enjoy
the book while you recover, I’m glad the
injury was not on your bowling arm.”
No-one ever had a bad word for him; he
was, above anything else, a gentleman. We
miss him greatly.
Rajiv Radhakrishnan (1990-1997)
It is always sad when it takes someone to
die for us truly to reminisce about special
times in our lives. With the news about
Bruce Ritchie’s passing coinciding with
the tragic news about the loss of one of my
classmates and 1st XV rugby teammate
Paul Shyvers, I felt compelled to write.
Everyone has at least one teacher with
whom they really connect; for me it was
Mr Ritchie. Whilst most of my time at
Taylors’ seemed to be about me indulging
my sporting passions, Mr Ritchie imbued
in me a similar passion for English
literature and, in particular, plays. The
real gift he had was in persuading a group
of adolescent boys that “acting” a play
in a classroom could be both fun and
educational (even for those reading the
part of the female characters!).
The result was an eclectic mix of boys
trying to mimic what they thought would
be the correct accent for Biff or Willy
Loman from Death of a Salesman, or
perhaps even more memorably, that of
Blanche DuBois from A Cat on a Hot
Tin Roof. However, for me, I will always
remember attempting the Italian accent
in the “starring” role of Rodolfo in a View
from the Bridge, alongside my fellow lead
Bruce Ritchie:
a tribute
Bruce Ritchie
taught English at Merchant Taylors’ from 1966
to 1995. He died on 15th October 2012
Concordia
Merchant Taylors’ School
he was, above anything else, a gentleman…
