Jehane Markham

HER words brought joy and solace to so many who knew her personally – and to many who didn’t. Her friendship was ever loyal, her time given generously.

Poet, author, singer Jehane Markham, who has died aged 75, was, according to friends, “easily the most stylish woman in north London”.

Jehane, who was the New Journal’s poet in residence, was born in 1949, the youngest of four sisters. Raised on the edge of Ashdown Forest, her future talents were nurtured by her mother, Olive Dehn, who was a poet and successful children’s author.

Her father, David Markham, was an actor. Jehane would later become an accomplished performer. According to her sister Petra, Jehane was a shy child who was home­schooled until she was eight.

She then enrolled in a Hampstead boarding school, an unhappy experience which she claimed resulted in a life- long aversion to maths. From there, her education was placed in the hands of the progressive teachers at the Town and Country School in Swiss Cottage, and then she studied for A-levels at Camden School for Girls.

Jehane later won a place at the Central School of Art, but did not complete the course: instead, she and friends found a semi-derelict barn in County Roscommon, Eire, and camped out there for months, writing, reading and daydreaming.

Jehane Markham contributed to the CNJ

Returning to London and looking for work, she answered an advert for staff at London Zoo.

It was a brief position but one she enjoyed, getting to know the zoo’s star turn, Guy the Gorilla. In 1975, Jehane and actor Roger Lloyd Pack got together and moved to Kentish Town.

Their son Spencer was born in 1981 and Hartley and Louis followed. Jehane and Roger had met many years before and lived near each other in north London, Jehane residing in Finsbury Park and Roger – the Only Fools and Horses actor who died in 2014 – in Kentish Town.

They became devoted partners.

Jehane had never stopped writing as a child, a teenager, or as an adult.

She used her skill to deconstruct life and understand it. It meant nothing was out of bounds, and her work changed as she grew. Motherhood, becoming a granny, Covid lockdowns – all were covered.

She was given a role as the New Journal’s poet in residence and she contributed her work regularly, drawing on a range of topics, issues, thoughts and feelings to produce much-anticipated verse. But before poetry came plays: she wrote for radio, the stage and TV.

Her friends recall a plethora of talents, interests and friendships. It was said she made the best salad dressing in the world. And with Roger, she made heads turn on the dancefloor as they both Lindy Hopped.

She loved Kentish Town passionately, but also had a deep attachment to Norfolk, where she had a house – walks across salt marshes with a North Sea wind in her face were idyllic. Jehane was a home creator, a person who valued the warmth of loving relationships, and it was reflected in the many memories her sons hold. There were big baking trays of toad in the hole, and macaroni cheese with added tomato and breadcrumbs on top.

There were after-school treats of apple pies and chocolate, and always an unkempt-looking but carefully cared-for garden. She played a mean hand of poker, and swam in the Ladies Pond.

Jehane’s life was full of music: from the Lady Somerset Road street party to enjoying Sam Cooke, Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan, it was as integral to her expression as her poetry. It was shared through her work with the Jehane Markham Trio, which put her words to the sounds of jazz.

She was determinedly left-wing and anti-war. Her politics were born out of empathy. She thought compassion was the most important value to hold, and said she could spot people who “had nice faces”.

As her friend the author Nicci Gerrard said: “In one of her poems, Jehane writes: ‘Time is a jug of cream poured into me./Don’t stop.’ But time has stopped. Her story is over. She lives now in your hearts and your memories. Indelible.”