My father, Tony Richmond, who has died aged 82, was a journalist, amateur naturalist, winemaker, Scottish country dancer and committed Christian. While studying English, political theory and government at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), in Johannesburg, South Africa, in the 1960s, he became profoundly affected by apartheid and the injustices it imposed. He joined marches and protests, set up a multiracial church youth group, and mixed with freedom fighters and activists.
Born in Durban to Arnold Richmond, a civil engineer, and his wife, Moyra (nee Shaw), a librarian, Tony went to Michaelhouse school in Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal). After graduating from Wits in 1964, he enrolled as a cub reporter for the Star newspaper in Johannesburg. Eager to see the world, he studied for three months at Perugia University and hitchhiked across Europe.
