Michael Clarke obituary

My friend and ex-husband Michael Clarke, who has died aged 74, was an expert in the field of teaching English to speakers of other languages. He not only taught for many years but became involved in teacher training and also helped to devise various courses at home and abroad.

Mike was born in Liverpool, to Eileen (nee Sinker), a barmaid, and Mike, a bricklayer, and had two younger sisters, Elaine and Jan. He attended St Francis Xavier’s Jesuit college – where his love of languages, hillwalking and football began – and went on to Westfield College (now Queen Mary University of London) in east London, graduating with a degree in classics in 1969.