Anita Roddick dies of stroke
September 10, 2007 1:58 PM Subscribe
Obitfilter: Anita Roddick (1942-2007). Anita Roddick, who founded the Body Shop in Brighton's North Laine in 1976, has died of a stroke at St. Richard's hospital in Chichester. The shop, in Kensington Gardens, has long since closed - it's now an optician - but stories about it are still recounted. Although Body Shop is still based in nearby Littlehampton, the controlling interest was sold last year to L'Oreal for the tidy sum of $1.3bn, allowing Ms Roddick to concentrate on her campaigning work.
Roddick actually lost controlling interest in 1984, after which she pretty much never stopped talking about how much she regretted taking the company public, with the inherent loss of control and what she saw (perhaps accurately, in retrospect) as the slow death of her baby. Having the prize finally in the hands of the bunny-torture camp at L'Oreal must have been heartbreaking.
I had the pleasure of meeting her once in the 90's. Fascinating person, passionate and sincere. Hard to dislike.
posted by rokusan at 2:08 PM on September 10, 2007
I had the pleasure of meeting her once in the 90's. Fascinating person, passionate and sincere. Hard to dislike.
posted by rokusan at 2:08 PM on September 10, 2007
Wow. Sad loss.
posted by cmgonzalez at 2:11 PM on September 10, 2007
posted by cmgonzalez at 2:11 PM on September 10, 2007
Her genius ad with the "plumped" Barbie doll on a divan way back when caught my attention, and I started shopping there as soon as I had a slightly generous income.
The more her ideals were traded for whatever would bring people into the stores in droves during the gifting holidays, though, I started looking for other alternatives and had fully moved on to Lush long before the whole sad thing had ended in L'Oreal's clenching claws.
May her legacy be continued in her absence, her loved ones given enough strength and support to get through the hard part of losing a dear one, and for her energy to rest in peace.
posted by batmonkey at 2:17 PM on September 10, 2007
The more her ideals were traded for whatever would bring people into the stores in droves during the gifting holidays, though, I started looking for other alternatives and had fully moved on to Lush long before the whole sad thing had ended in L'Oreal's clenching claws.
May her legacy be continued in her absence, her loved ones given enough strength and support to get through the hard part of losing a dear one, and for her energy to rest in peace.
posted by batmonkey at 2:17 PM on September 10, 2007
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I used to work for Body Shop and while my manager was a mean jerk, I sure loved Anita.
posted by Dantien at 2:54 PM on September 10, 2007
I used to work for Body Shop and while my manager was a mean jerk, I sure loved Anita.
posted by Dantien at 2:54 PM on September 10, 2007
Read an article on Newsweek, and then clicked on this in a sidebar, and then came here and read that she had died.
Went from never heard of her, to interesting person, to RIP, all in three links. Disorienting.
posted by dglynn at 2:56 PM on September 10, 2007
Went from never heard of her, to interesting person, to RIP, all in three links. Disorienting.
posted by dglynn at 2:56 PM on September 10, 2007
Only 65? Maybe time to start testing some new anti-stroke medication...
posted by UbuRoivas at 3:11 PM on September 10, 2007
posted by UbuRoivas at 3:11 PM on September 10, 2007
died tonight after suffering a major brain haemorrhage
That's a totally different animal than a typical ischemic stroke from hypertension, etc. It's very likely she never knew she had an aneurysm and it blew. Very sad, indeed.
posted by docpops at 4:04 PM on September 10, 2007
That's a totally different animal than a typical ischemic stroke from hypertension, etc. It's very likely she never knew she had an aneurysm and it blew. Very sad, indeed.
posted by docpops at 4:04 PM on September 10, 2007
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posted by LobsterMitten at 4:43 PM on September 10, 2007
posted by LobsterMitten at 4:43 PM on September 10, 2007
Wow, this is very sad news indeed, I admired her a lot :(
posted by zarah at 4:55 PM on September 10, 2007
posted by zarah at 4:55 PM on September 10, 2007
Roddick was a cool person. In a very entertaining passage in "Beating the Street," Peter Lynch describes analyzing the Body Shop in the 70's. He said that when both his daughters and his wife were excited about going to the store, he knew he had a winner. He then made a lot of money buying the stock for Fidelity Magellan.
Why do you assume it was an aneurysm, docpops? Most ICH in that age range is what we call primary ICH, usually due to vascular risk factors, especially hypertension. (The Charcot-Bouchard microaneurysm, pathognomic pathologic finding of hypertensive hemorrhage, differs from the berry aneurysm that you're describing.)
posted by ikkyu2 at 6:07 PM on September 10, 2007
Why do you assume it was an aneurysm, docpops? Most ICH in that age range is what we call primary ICH, usually due to vascular risk factors, especially hypertension. (The Charcot-Bouchard microaneurysm, pathognomic pathologic finding of hypertensive hemorrhage, differs from the berry aneurysm that you're describing.)
posted by ikkyu2 at 6:07 PM on September 10, 2007
Having the prize finally in the hands of the bunny-torture camp at L'Oreal must have been heartbreaking.
rokusan, seems she saw it a bit differently than that:
"I was able to go into this huge organisation like a Trojan horse."
posted by zarah at 7:34 PM on September 10, 2007
rokusan, seems she saw it a bit differently than that:
"I was able to go into this huge organisation like a Trojan horse."
posted by zarah at 7:34 PM on September 10, 2007
She made shopping for my sisters a million times easier. God bless her and her grossly overpriced tropically-scented glycerin.
posted by Reggie Digest at 8:26 PM on September 10, 2007
posted by Reggie Digest at 8:26 PM on September 10, 2007
Why do you assume it was an aneurysm, docpops? Most ICH in that age range is what we call primary ICH, usually due to vascular risk factors, especially hypertension. (The Charcot-Bouchard microaneurysm, pathognomic pathologic finding of hypertensive hemorrhage, differs from the berry aneurysm that you're describing.)
Duly noted. I think part of me thought of her as a younger person. Perhaps her strong feelings on natural products extended to a view toward eschewing synthetic hypertension remedies.
posted by docpops at 10:23 PM on September 10, 2007
Duly noted. I think part of me thought of her as a younger person. Perhaps her strong feelings on natural products extended to a view toward eschewing synthetic hypertension remedies.
posted by docpops at 10:23 PM on September 10, 2007
She was one of the success stories I read about before I started my company. She was a pioneer in so many areas. Very sad news.
posted by dejah420 at 11:00 PM on September 10, 2007
posted by dejah420 at 11:00 PM on September 10, 2007
I think part of me thought of her as a younger person
This is exactly what I thought. I think there was something about her campaigning zeal that made me shocked to discover she was in her sixties. Very sad news.
posted by greycap at 11:15 PM on September 10, 2007
This is exactly what I thought. I think there was something about her campaigning zeal that made me shocked to discover she was in her sixties. Very sad news.
posted by greycap at 11:15 PM on September 10, 2007
I had never heard of her prior to her passing, but the more I read, the more I like. She sounded like a pretty awesome person.
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posted by Alvy Ampersand at 5:34 AM on September 11, 2007
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posted by Alvy Ampersand at 5:34 AM on September 11, 2007
Some commentary from the local press today:
* Prime Minister's tribute
* Local figures pay tribute to her work in Brighton and Littlehampton
posted by athenian at 8:47 AM on September 11, 2007
* Prime Minister's tribute
* Local figures pay tribute to her work in Brighton and Littlehampton
posted by athenian at 8:47 AM on September 11, 2007
.
(Shocking to see the few responses though). I love the quote about how she describes her products as simply what they do -- moisturizers, scents, etc.
Sad to see it happen so young.
posted by narebuc at 8:41 PM on September 11, 2007
(Shocking to see the few responses though). I love the quote about how she describes her products as simply what they do -- moisturizers, scents, etc.
Sad to see it happen so young.
posted by narebuc at 8:41 PM on September 11, 2007
. for so much. Thanks, Anita - history will thank you for your efforts.
posted by rmm at 8:56 AM on September 12, 2007
posted by rmm at 8:56 AM on September 12, 2007
I worked with Anita until the day she died and she was my friend and mentor. She had had a couple of small ICHs last year and was aware it was a possibility a big stroke was on the horizon. Still unsure if the strokes were complications of the cirrhosis/Hep C, but hypertension was an issue. I feel blessed to know she that did not suffer, did not have to endure a liver transplant, did not die slowly in a manner that would rob her of a shred of her dignity.
I love Anita like a mother and she inspired me to believe in my personal power to make the world a better place. Sounds corny, but that is a HUGE gift to give someone, one I can't hope to repay in my lifetime. But I owe her my best efforts to carry on her work, and to keep her memory alive. She was a phenomenon, not really ever quite human. I can feel her here with us, and I know she's still at work in this world, and in the other as well, I'm sure.
posted by brookish at 8:10 PM on September 14, 2007 [3 favorites]
I love Anita like a mother and she inspired me to believe in my personal power to make the world a better place. Sounds corny, but that is a HUGE gift to give someone, one I can't hope to repay in my lifetime. But I owe her my best efforts to carry on her work, and to keep her memory alive. She was a phenomenon, not really ever quite human. I can feel her here with us, and I know she's still at work in this world, and in the other as well, I'm sure.
posted by brookish at 8:10 PM on September 14, 2007 [3 favorites]
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Amen.
posted by craniac at 2:04 PM on September 10, 2007