BBC radio legend dies suddenly after playing tennis as wife shares touching tribute
David Arscott has sadly died aged 81, passing away on a bench in the grounds of Lewes Priory on 29 November after playing a game of tennis. The BBC presenter was known for hosting and producing Radio Brighton, later called Radio Sussex, from the 1970s until 1991.
He leaves behind his wife, Jill, seven children - three of which he shared with Jill - and ten grandchildren. And paying a touching tribute to the radio star following his passing, his wife shared: "He liked people and rarely judged them. Although he loved his writing he always said that radio presenting was the best job he had ever had.
"Few things riled David, but a misplaced comma certainly did. David had long been the county's laureate, telling its story in his own words and in his warm voice in dozens of books, programmes and talks all over Sussex.
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She continued: "He loved the records kept by Sussex vicars of centuries ago, laughing out loud at 'Buried Thomas Winfield, that old fornicator' and the baptism of the daughter of 'Elizabeth Rogers, a very noted strumpet of this parish'."
Recalling funny moments in David's career, Jill added: "The red light suddenly flashed, David gratefully opened the mic, asked the listener for her educational point and she said: 'I've lost my parrot!' Such were the perils of having no back-up to separate the calls to the station's lost pet service from the current affairs phone-ins.
"In those days editing meant cutting tape with a razor blade and all too often hunting for the lost bit when it dropped into the wastepaper basket. Whether it was missing parrots or doing the commentary from the funeral of Ian Gow, the Eastbourne MP murdered by the IRA, David loved the job," she concluded with fond memories.
Alongside his radio work, family man David - who began his career as a newspaper journalist - also wrote over 40 books and was known in his local community for creating a garden in the town centre.
In his final act, David gave his meadow its last cut in late autumn and planted a rambling rector rose under the goat willow, a gift that will bloom in the coming summers.
His final resting place is Westmeston, nestled between the Downs and the cottage where he once lived with Jill and their children.
