Trailblazer journalist hailed as UK's 'own PJ O'Rourke'

Richard D North, The Independent's first environment editor, was a pioneering Green voice who later challenged the movement he helped shape and championed progress

- PAUL SEAMAN

Richard D North, journalist, author, broadcaster and social commentator, has died aged 79. North was The Independent's first environment editor and one of Britain's earliest Green commentators, before becoming one of the movement's most vocal internal critics.

Labelled by the bestselling author and cultural commentator Peter York as "our very own P J O'Rourke", he wrote widely on culture, conservation and politics for The Independent, The Listener, The Observer, The Guardian and The Times.

In the 1970s and early 1980s, North was a prominent figure in the environmental movement. A regular contributor to Vole - the pioneering magazine founded by journalist Richard Boston and funded by Monty Python's Terry Jones - he became its final editor. His early books, including Wild Britain (1983), The Animals Report (1983) and The Real Cost (1986), explored Britain's ecosystems and ethical consumption. He also wrote