John Vidal, the Guardian’s environment editor for 27 years, thought his greatest achievement was the Gumbi education fund, set up after he wrote a moving piece in 2002 about how the village of Gumbi in Malawi was recovering from famine, and its children were desperate for an education.
Even though he had not asked them to, Guardian readers started sending money both to John and the paper to build a school and provide a teacher. John, who has died aged 74 of prostate cancer, was genuinely surprised his words were so powerful, always underestimating the impact of his championing of the underdog.
