When Wilkins asked Pratchett what he’d want at his memorial service, Pratchett replied: “To be there,” adding: “knowing your mother will be in the room, I want you to use the words ‘fuck’ and ‘bugger’.” Our host was Pratchett’s longtime assistant, Rob Wilkins, who recalled meeting the author after queuing for a signature along with other Discworld fans, the smell of new hardbacks delivered to Pratchett’s kitchen table, and how he started typing up the novels when Pratchett couldn’t do it himself any more. The musicians and artists I spoke to, all choosing different elements of Pratchett’s creative output that had, in turn, inspired their own. One recounted meeting her husband when she appeared in a Discworld play he was directing. Some Discworld fans spoke of travelling from the US and Australia. The evening was a celebration not only of Pratchett’s life and work, but also of the people he brought together. Wouldn’t that have been lovely? Rob Wilkins, Terry Pratchett's friend and assistant I was imagining we’d be here in 2038 – I’d be 70, Terry’d be 90. “I haven’t wanted to read it because I know it is the last one.” Like a fine whisky, Stefan continued, he’s saving The Shepherd’s Crown – Pratchett’s posthumously published final Discworld novel – “for a special occasion”. “I haven’t touched his last book,” he said.
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