It is too soon for me to gather my thoughts, but if you would like to leave a comment or tribute to Paddy there is a page to do just that.

Your Paddy Thoughts

Your Paddy Thoughts - click the image

by Harry Mount

First published in the Telegraph 10 June 2011

Leigh Fermor, who has just died at 96, was blessed with many gifts, among them good looks, into old age, and an admirable war record. The two attributes were reflected in Dirk Bogarde being cast to play him in Ill Met by Moonlight, the story of Leigh Fermor’s daring kidnap, on Crete, of the German officer, General Heinrich Kreipe.

But his most extraordinary gift was his writing skill. Travel writers often depend on unusual destinations – the Antarctic, or wherever – or unusual stunts – ie taking a fridge to the Antarctic. Leigh Fermor went to more conventional places, but wrote about them beautifully.

His two best books – A Time of Gifts (1977) and Between the Woods and the Water (1986) – tell the story of his walk in 1933, aged 18, from the Hook of Holland to Constantinople. They combine total recall of events that happened half a century before, with his poetic, classical prose – itself rooted in his mastery of Latin and Greek (ancient and modern).

He is a lesson to all travel writers. It’s not enough to travel; you must be a writer, too.

There are a number of reports on Twitter saying that Paddy has died. The posts started at around 12.30 pm today UK time.

I do know from reliable sources that Paddy has been gravely ill and may have been evacuated back to the UK from an Athens hospital.

These reports need substantiating but I do fear they may be true. I will keep the blog updated.