place of residence, so on and so forth. Class Act In 2000, she wrote a book called Class Act: How to Beat the British Class System. In the book, she declared that "people may well sneer at me for writing a book about class", she declared. "Others will say that nobody called Lynda from a working-class background has any right to pontificate on the subject. Actually, I can't think of anybody better equipped, having probably trawled my way through more classes than most". The book offered aperçus such as "upper middle-class mummies have little trouble with au pairs because they are naturally authoritative" and "the lower middle-classes desperately want to be dainty", and dispensed advice, such as what to take your hostess at country house weekends: "Under no circumstances take a poinsettia, which is the plant equivalent of a bottle of Blue Nun." She made no apology for her interest in the subject: "The only people who hanker after a classless society are those who want what other people have without working for it". Snobbery, she said, "will always be with us", adding: "It has certainly motivated me all my life. I may be ridiculous, but I don't care." Awards Lee-Potter was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1998 New Year Honours for services to journalism and for charitable services. She was named Columnist of the Year in 1984 and 2001, Feature Writer of the Year in 1987 and 1993, and Woman Writer of the Year in 1989. Illness and death On 20 October 2004, Lee-Potter succumbed to a brain tumour. She was survived by her husband and three children (one son, Adam, and two daughters Charlie and Emma), all of whom followed their mother into journalism. See also List of notable brain tumor patients References 1935 births 2004 deaths Deaths from brain tumor English columnists Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Leigh, Greater Manchester Daily Mail journalists