Roger Took

Born in Macclesfield, Took was the son of George Took and his wife Paula Schischka. He was educated at Haileybury College, Sandhurst, and the Courtauld Institute. ==Career==

Artangel In 1985, Roger Took founded Artangel, a London-based arts organisation that commissions work ranging from sculpture to film from international artists. It was taken over by James Lingwood and Michael Morris in 1991. Running with Reindeer: Encounters in Russian Lapland Following his departure from Artangel in 1992, Took began his trips to Kola Peninsula in Russian Lapland because there was little known about the area. He prepared by taking a crash course in Russian and getting some arms training. Over the years he became fluent in Russian and began to use a Cyrillic keyboard. In December 2003, Running with Reindeer: Encounters in Russian Lapland was published in hardback. Written in a travelogue style, Took begins the book detailing the events of his first trip to Murmansk (often referred to as Russia's Lapland) as the first traveler to the area in 70 years, A 2004 article in the Canadian Journal of History reviewed it as "quite an extraordinary book", but continued on that "the final sections of the work prove to be ... highly disappointing." The book was shortlisted for the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award in 2004. ==Personal life==

In 1981, Took met a painter, Pat Cleary, who was a rich divorcee with children. Their families had been associated for decades. Despite her father's concerns that the financially struggling Took was only interested in marrying his daughter for her money, the two were married on 12 July 1983 The mother alerted the police and a six-week investigation was launched, during which Took was unaware that his family knew what had been happening. Took was arrested at Luton airport in April 2007 following a police investigation that uncovered 742 chat room logs in which Took boasted about a child rape and murder. Took was given an indeterminate sentence by Judge Henry Blacksell QC who believed he "posed a danger to all children." Judge Blacksell had reviewed thousands of pages of evidence, and was visibly shocked when he told the court, "It is unrestrained filth, depravity of the worst kind." His case received little publicity and he enjoyed support from former colleagues. Those who spoke were his older half-brother, John Michael Took; the Reverend Adrian Gabb-Jones; and Matteos Los, a schoolfriend from a Greek shipping family. Took killed himself in July 2011 while on probation. ==References==