THE death has occurred in Dublin of the journalist and author Bill Graham, once described by Bono of U2 as "one of the best writers in the world".
Mr Graham (44) died suddenly at his family home in Howth on Saturday morning. The cause of death will not be known until a post mortem is completed. He is survived by his mother, Eileen, with whom he was living and who discovered the body.
Mr Graham was born on August 29th, 1951, in Belfast and educated at Blackrock College and Trinity College Dublin, before becoming one of the founding members of Hot Press, for which he wrote about popular culture, politics and current affairs. He was also, for a short period, rock columnist for the Sunday Tribune and the Sunday Business Post.
However, it was through the pages of Hot Press that he introduced to the world the music of the then teenage band U2, a group he also introduced to the man who became their manager, Mr Paul McGuinness.
Mr Graham later published two books on the band, Another Time; Another Place and The Complete Guide to the Music of U2.
Commenting on his death yesterday on RTE, Mr McGuinness said the introduction to U2 was "the most important introduction of my life" and that he would always "be grateful to Bill for making it".
Funeral arrangements will be made following today's post mortem.