Tony Gould journalist and polio survivor dies aged 87

11th May 2026

Tony Gould, who has died aged 87, was a journalist, author and literary editor best known for his work at New Society and the New Statesman in the 1970s and 80s.

Born in Bovey Tracey, Devon, Tony left school at 16 before joining the Gurkhas for national service at 17. While serving in Hong Kong, Malaya and Nepal, he contracted polio and was told he would never walk again. Determined to prove otherwise, he learned to walk with callipers and sticks.

After studying English at Cambridge University, he worked in teaching and BBC Radio before becoming books editor at New Society in 1975 and later literary editor of the New Statesman after the titles merged in 1988.

Tony also wrote nine books, including A Summer Plague: Polio and Its Survivors and Imperial Warriors: Britain and the Gurkhas, both shaped by his own experiences. A lifelong Chelsea supporter with a mischievous sense of humour, he enjoyed entertaining friends and later rediscovered his love of Dartmoor using an off-road mobility