Robert "Rob" Dawber (8 January 1956 – 20 February 2001) was a British railwayman turned writer whose script for the film '' The Navigators'' was commissioned by director

Ken Loach Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a retiredhttps://variety.com/2024/film/global/ken-loach-retirement-the-old-oak-jonathan-glazer-oscars-speech-1235956589/ English filmmaker. His socially critical directing style and socialist views ar ...

and shot in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, where Dawber lived.Ken Loac
Obituary
Guardian Unlimited, 23 February 2001 He was a long-standing member of the

Trotskyist Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...

group the

Alliance for Workers' Liberty The Alliance for Workers' Liberty (AWL), also known as Workers' Liberty, is a Trotskyist group in Britain and Australia, which has been identified with the theorist Sean Matgamna throughout its history. It publishes the newspaper ''Solidarity''. ...

Biography

Background

Dawber grew up in

Wath-upon-Dearne Wath upon Dearne (shortened to Wath or often hyphenated) is a town south of the River Dearne in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, north of Rotherham and almost midway between Barnsley and Doncaster. It had a po ...

, then in the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

(attending

Wath Grammar School Wath Academy is a mixed secondary school on Sandygate in Wath-upon-Dearne in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. Admissions The school is a specialist Language College, though it is non-selective. It has approxima ...

) and, having studied Politics and English at

Leicester University The University of Leicester ( ) is a public research university based in Leicester, England. The main campus is south of the city centre, adjacent to Victoria Park. The university's predecessor, University College, Leicester, gained university ...

, decided to pursue a career on the railways. He had strong political beliefs, and during his time as a railwayman he "became a branch secretary for the

National Union of Railwaymen The National Union of Railwaymen was a trade union of railway workers in the United Kingdom. The largest railway workers' union in the country, it was influential in the national trade union movement. History The NUR was an industrial union ...

, and wrote for ''

Socialist Organiser ''Socialist Organiser'' was a weekly socialist newspaper circulated in the Labour Party. The newspaper was founded in 1979 by the Socialist Campaign for a Labour Victory, later renamed the Socialist Organiser Alliance. The newspaper was origi ...

'' and ''Off The Rails'', a bulletin for rail workers. His Fat Controller column mercilessly lampooned the rail managers who squandered the opportunities of the nationalised industries". Following

privatisation Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

of the railways from 1994, Dawber was made redundant and he took the decision to begin writing a film script. After sending his work to Ken Loach, his script about the breakup of the nationalised railways through privatisation was commissioned.

Illness and death

One week after this news, Rob discovered he was suffering from

mesothelioma Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that develops from the thin layer of tissue that covers many of the internal organs (known as the mesothelium). The area most commonly affected is the lining of the lungs and chest wall. Less commonly the lini ...

, a rare form of lung cancer caused by handling

asbestos Asbestos ( ) is a group of naturally occurring, Toxicity, toxic, carcinogenic and fibrous silicate minerals. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous Crystal habit, crystals, each fibre (particulate with length su ...

during the course of his work on the railway. Rob searched the world for therapies and treatments, but died on 20 February 2001 at the age of 45. He saw ''The Navigators'' completed but did not live to see its release. Ken Loach, in his ''Guardian'' obituary of Rob Dawber, wrote that "Working people have lost a champion".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawber, Rob 1956 births 2001 deaths Alliance for Workers' Liberty people English male screenwriters People from Wath upon Dearne People educated at Wath Academy 20th-century English screenwriters