We are shocked and saddened to hear about the passing of Martyn Hett who graduated from BA (Hons) Media and Cultural Studies in 2013. Below former tutors and lecturers to Martyn pay tribute:
Acting Dean of Media, and former tutor to Martyn, Steve Cross
Martyn was a bright and highly engaging student. He will be remembered by his cohort and by the staff that taught him on BA (Hons) Media and Cultural Studies with great affection. Martyn was a student with a genuinely wicked and infectious sense of humour, and a sharp and unnervingly accurate gift for mimicry – no staff member was spared!
His irreverent take on some of the more abstract theoretical propositions that students were required to discuss would emerge, dead-pan, from under his trademark wide-brimmed hat during seminars. His breadth of pop-cultural reference was astonishing and would far outshine whatever creaking example I was attempting to use to illustrate the finer points of semiotics.
Martyn was one of those students who stays in the mind long after they have graduated and moved out into the world to make a life and a career. I can’t begin to imagine how his partner, his family, and his friends are facing his loss. News of his untimely and utterly senseless death has certainly made me feel that we have all lost something absolutely unique.
Lab Ky Mo, BA (Hons) Contemporary Media Cultures lecturer
He stood out from the rest of his class, was extremely gregarious, vivacious and colourful, with a big smile and a genuine thirst for life.
Looking back on my archived records, I am reminded that he was an outstanding student; I am therefore not surprised that he has since go on to become somewhat of a celebrity, with his various TV appearances and his significant social media following.
He clearly was loved and will be dearly missed by many. The one single consolation to his life having been cut so tragically short is that he lived his short life to the maximum, squeezing enjoyment and happiness from every second of his life right up to, I’m certain, his very last.
Jonathan Wright, BA (Hons) Senior Lecturer BA (Hons) Contemporary Media Cultures and BA (Hons) Media and Cultural Studies
Whilst I don’t have memories of particular essays or even classes, I do clearly remember Martyn’s charismatic and sparkly personality. He was a real presence on the course and was very popular amongst both staff and students. He put his heart and soul into his studies and I’d like to think got a lot in return. Drawing on his sharp humour and insuppressible self-confidence he successfully propelled himself into the media spotlight and it is truly heartbreaking to see such potential cut short.
Image via The Guardian.