‘Wise, clever and kind, Katharine Whitehorn made it easier for all of us who followed her’ Vanessa Thorpe Stylish, stimulating and life-affirming, Katharine Whitehorn, the Observer writer and broadcaster who helped shape modern British journalism, was mourned by readers and former colleagues at the weekend. Born in Hendon, London, in 1928, the columnist, the first woman to be given such a job at this newspaper, had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. She moved to a care home in north London in 2018 and was recently diagnosed with Covid-19, although it is not clear if this contributed to her death on Friday at the age of 92.