Fred Jarvis died today, aged 95. He was a dear friend and a legendary political and education campaigner. I thought it might be nice to share some memories and anecdotes about him. https://www.tes.com/news/former-nut-teaching-union-leader-fred-jarvis-dies-95

His life story is quite something. I was lucky enough to help edit his memoirs a few years back.

Fred, who is perhaps best known as a general secretary of the NUT, was born into poverty in East London in the 1920s, and shone at school, but was unable to continue his education at grammar school due to cost of fees (this was before free secondary education).

He served in WW2, and arrived in Normandy only a few hours after D-Day - and he went on to become an accomplished administrator in the Allied administration in Germany (where it's safe to say he had a really good time). https://twitter.com/gerardkelly33/status/1272907333744590850?s=19

From the army he won a spot at Oxford, a move that now seems extraordinary.

There, he became involved with the NUS, and here starts a strand that runs through his life: battling the Hard Left's attempts to take over Soft Left institutions.

Eventually becoming president of the NUS, he led a guerilla war with those he referred to as "Trots and tankies" - but it didn't stop him joining an international conference of student unions in Stalinist Russia.

(I have a snap he took there - but it's locked down in the @tes)

This battle with the Hard Left continued as his professional life took him onto the staff of the NUT (as one of unionism's first spin doctors).

This battle with the left was also a theme of his membership of the Labour party, in which he might best described as Kinnock-ite.

But before I write more about politics, it is worth stating the obvious: Fred was an extraordinary, and long-standing campaigner for, and servant of, teachers, students, and free and comprehensive education.

(And he attended every NUT conference for about 70 years.)

Fred was the most extraordinary networker.

He would phone me when I was at the @TES at least once a week to both find out what was going on, but also throw me titbits of gossip.

Others, including @SKinnock, @EmmaHardyMP, @wesstreeting were also on his call-list.

Myself, @gerardkelly33, Fred and Tim Brighouse would have lunch at least once a year. It was amazing every single time - I would try not to say too much and just absorb the wisdom.

(He'd had lunch with every @tes editor since war.)

In his 94th year he was still so well informed that he was the chief source for one of my better scoops last year. I won't tell you which - I promised him anonymity on the story - but he really knew what was going on.

On that note, I'll always remember flicking on Newsnight a few years ago to find Fred a key witness in a report by @xtophercook on the take over of the Labour party by the Corbynites.

He would turn up to any party going (I don't think he ever missed a @tes school awards evening) - and would organise a birthday bash for himself every year at the @IOE_London, where you would look around amazed at the political legends, MPs and gen secs on view.

Fred also had many other strings to his bow - he was an accomplished photographer (his behind-the-scenes photos of Tony Blair's '97 campaign are something to behold) and he was a long-term advocate of the arts and theatre in education.

He would go to the School Proms every year WITHOUT FAIL (as well as endless opera and theatre gigs in the West End) long into his 90s and he was a trustee at various youth arts organisations.

He was always joyously enthusiastic about the talent of the young people performing.

No discussion of Fred would be complete without a mention of @WestHam. He was a season ticket at Upton Park for a million years and constantly bemoaned their fortunes.

(The saddest I remember him being was when he told me that he wasn't going to attend the Olympic Stadium.)

But perhaps the most important lesson Fred Jarvis taught me, however, was not to jump to conclusions about the elderly - and not to patronise them.

He had wit, verve, intelligence and a gigantic ego until his dying day.

The contributions Fred made to education, to politics, to story-telling and to networking in the years AFTER he was supposed to have given up work, were by some distance greater than most people manage in their entire professional careers.

I was about to type "RIP", but that would be wrong. IF there is a heaven, Fred is up there, working the room, pressing the flesh and working out who the trots are.