My wife, Karen Clarke, who has died of cancer aged 60, was a special needs teacher who improved the lives of scores of marginalised young people in south London. Her lessons, influenced by her earlier life as an archaeologist, translator, marketing consultant and cookery book author, were inspirational; and it was this work, and her output as a writer, that gave her a true feeling that she had made a positive and lasting contribution.
Karen was born in Fareham, Hampshire. Her parents had met in Hong Kong; her father, Basil Clarke, was on secondment from the Royal Navy to learn Mandarin, her mother, Yu Ye (later known as Sandra), was a refugee from Shanghai, China, trying to learn English. When Karen was a baby they moved to London, where Basil became a journalist, and joined the BBC World Service. Sandra worked at the Foreign Office as the chief Chinese language teacher to diplomats.
