The Daily Telegraph, the UK's largest selling quality daily paper, today carries an obituary of Brian Boobbyer, across six columns. 'One of his generation's finest all-round sportsmen who gave it all up at 24 to work for Moral Re-Armament', reads the headline.
The obituary reads, in part:
'Brian Boobbyer, who died on January 17 aged 82, was one of the finest all-round sportsmen of his era but, like CT Studd and Eric Liddell before him, chose to give up his sporting career in his prime.
'By 1952 he had won nine England rugby caps as a centre and was possibly the most inventive and exciting full-back in the five nations [an annual rugby football championship between England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France] that year. He was also coveted by Middlesex to open the batting after four years in the Oxford University cricket side. Yet, at the age of 24, he turned his back on both games to work and travel overseas with Frank Buchman's Moral Re-Armament (MRA) movement.'
Describing his sporting career in detail, the obituary continues:
'Boobbyer had always taken his Christian faith seriously. His maternal grandfather, ED Shaw, had been Bishop of Buckingham. While at Oxford, Boobbyer discovered the work of Frank Buchman, whose Moral Re-Armament movement, originally known as the Oxford Group, was challenging students to make their Christian commitment relevant to national life. Boobbyer was among those who accepted Buchman's challenge.
'Following his last term at Oxford, Boobbyer again went on a rugby tour, this time to Japan, but when it was over, and the others headed home, he stayed on to work with an international MRA group, promoting postwar reconciliation. His decision was not universally popular at the home, and even his family were split over it. He never played rugby or cricket again at a serious level.
'Boobbyer subsequently travelled to many parts of the world, including the Philippines, America and India. He found that he had a gift as a public speaker, presenting spiritual themes in ways that many could understand and appreciate. He devoted the rest of his life to that work.
'In 2005 his family collected together the best of his talks and writings, publishing them as a paperback, Like a Cork out of a Bottle. The title was a reference to a description of him in a book on the history of the Varsity match but it could equally have been applied to the way he approached his faith.'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/sport-obituaries/8275118/Brian-Boobbyer.html
English