Body Shop Founder Anita Roddick Dies

[Matthew T]

So soon after Pavarotti!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6988343.stm

Dame Anita Roddick dies aged 64


Founder of the Body Shop Dame Anita Roddick has died at the age of 64.

Her family said in a statement that she suffered "a major brain haemorrhage" at 1830 BST at St Richard's Hospital in Chichester, West Sussex.

Her husband, Gordon, and daughters Sam and Justine were all with her, the statement added.

Dame Anita set up the first Body Shop in Brighton in 1976. In February, she announced she had contracted Hepatitis C from a blood transfusion in 1971.

The family's statement said: "Gordon, Justine and Sam Roddick are very sad to announce that, after suffering a major brain haemorrhage, Anita Roddick died at 6.30pm this evening at the age of 64.

"Anita Roddick was admitted to St Richard's Hospital in Chichester, close to her home, yesterday evening when she collapsed after complaining of a sudden headache.

"Mrs Roddick was admitted to the hospital's intensive care unit and her husband Gordon and two daughters, Sam and Justine, were with her when she died."

'Own mortality'

Dame Anita revealed she was suffering from cirrhosis of the liver after contracting Hepatitis C from blood given during the birth of her youngest daughter, Sam.

She said she had unknowingly lived with the virus for three decades and only found out about it two years ago after a blood test.

"What I can say is that having Hep C means that I live with a sharp sense of my own mortality, which in many ways makes life more vivid and immediate," Dame Anita said.

"It makes me even more determined to just get on with things."

Dame Anita also called for Hepatitis C - sometimes called the "silent killer" - to be taken more seriously as a "public health challenge".

The Body Shop became part of the French company L'Oreal Group in July 2006 but is run independently.

[WhiteCrow]

I just read this - sad news indeed.

I have no interest in buisiness or beauty, but she was something else. She was a great character. She was a pioneer in trying to make buisness ethical, something which people are still slowly waking up to. Surely something which will be her legacy and will be remembered for.

There are many successful buisness men and women, but she managed to be successful and yet compassionate, even in the greed fuelled 80s.

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[Rob McCow]

That's such a terrible reason to die. Very sad, 64 is too young.

[Andrew Curnow]

I don't know much about her other than that by all accounts she was a very genuine, caring, and remarkable woman. And I was really shocked when I heard this news on the radio at 10 o'clock, which surprised me. A great shame.

[Jon Masters]

Didn't really like her, but still an unpleasant cause and age of death. Makes you remember that no-one is immune from misfortune.