The author and social historian Pat Barr, who has died aged 83, always maintained that the east was far more interesting than Europe, the US, or anywhere else in the west. A Curious Life for a Lady: The Story of Isabella Bird (1970) was the book that pleased Pat the most. Pat cheerfully acknowledged that she shared many characteristics with her heroine: widows both – Pat at the early age of 36 – and childless, or “childfree”, as Pat would always insist, they were indefatigable travellers despite occasional bouts of ill health. To the end of her days Pat kept a miniature of Isabella on her mantelpiece. • Pat Barr, writer, born 25 April 1934; died 20 March 2018

Source: The Guardian April 12, 2018 14:48 UTC