A Celebrated Career in Journalism
The world of British journalism has lost one of its most distinctive voices with the passing of Rachel Cooke, who died from ovarian cancer on 14th November 2025 at the age of 56. For an impressive 24 years, Cooke graced the pages of The Observer, filling her weekly slots with curiosity, enthusiasm, humour and sharp discernment.
Books, Food and People: Her Enduring Passions
Cooke's work primarily revolved around three main subjects: books, food and people. As a critic, columnist and interviewer, she approached each topic with an infectious enjoyment that readers found compelling. Her memorable account of daring to bake a cake for culinary legend Delia Smith in 2022 was described as an unabashed delight.
However, Cooke was never one to shy away from honest criticism. Her very first interview subject, chef Rick Stein, was so displeased with her piece that he phoned her boss after she complained he had given her nothing to eat. She famously described cricketer Kevin Pietersen as possessing "quite outstanding charmlessness". Beyond entertainment, Cooke took seriously her duty to inform, producing a model of clarity in her piece about psychiatrist David Bell's critical report on the Tavistock clinic's gender identity service.
Her literary criticism demonstrated the same powers of judgment and observation, combined with an erudition she shared without pretension. She held particular passion for poet Philip Larkin and mid-century female novelists including Elizabeth Taylor, Muriel Spark (whom she called "the cleverest and weirdest") and Elizabeth Jane Howard.
A Life Full of Words and Ideas
Born in Sheffield on 4th July 1969, Cooke was the first child of university botanist Roderic Cooke and biology teacher Elizabeth Cooke. Her early life included several years living in Jaffa, Israel, where she transformed the family bomb shelter into what she called "my office". She never wavered from her ambition to become a journalist.
After editing Cherwell, the student newspaper, during her final year at Keble College, Oxford, she secured a place on a Sunday Times trainee scheme. She rapidly established herself as a hard worker who understood that journalism could be fun. In 2001, she realised a childhood dream when she joined The Observer's Review section, having long admired columnist Katharine Whitehorn.
Cooke met critic and novelist Anthony Quinn at a party, and they married in 2006. She described their years together in Islington as "the best years of my life". Her professional achievements were substantial; in 2006 she was named Interviewer of the Year at the British Press Awards.
Beyond her journalism, Cooke authored several books. Her Brilliant Career (2013) offered an alternative view of the 1950s through the achievements of ten pioneering women. More recently, she published Kitchen Person (2023), a collection of her food writing, and The Virago Book of Friendship (2024), an anthology ranging from the tragic to the comic.
Cooke continued working for as long as she could after her cancer diagnosis, writing in June that she felt "quite private about the fact that I have cancer". A month later, she likened herself to "a strange sparrow, struggling to peck". She is survived by her husband, her mother, and her siblings.
