John Stott went to be with Christ on the afternoon of July 27, aged 90. He was listed by TIME magazine (April 2005) as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Column inches for his obituary in the UK broadsheets (all July 29) were more than would be afforded to most cabinet ministers.
His grandfather was a cotton mill owner in the north west of England; his father, later Sir Arnold Stott, was a Harley Street cardiologist. John followed in his father’s footsteps to Rugby School (where he became head boy) and to Trinity College, Cambridge. Sir Arnold hoped his only son would join the Diplomatic Service, and John’s eirenic nature and felicity with languages would have suited him well for this. But everything changed in 1938.
