# Co-founder of Guinness Book of Records dead at 78

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/co-founder-of-guinness-book-of-records-dead-at-78/241094>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [April 20, 2004, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/co-founder-of-guinness-book-of-records-dead-at-78/241094 "2004-04-20T20:42:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/co-founder-of-guinness-book-of-records-dead-at-78/241094/1 "2004-04-20T20:42:35Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> [BBC News](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3643039.stm)  
> [Norris] McWhirter suffered a heart attack while playing tennis at his Wiltshire home on Monday evening, his family said.
> 
> During the 1970s and 1980s he was a fixture of the BBC One children’s show Record Breakers, hosted by the late Roy Castle.
> 
> McWhirter, whose identical twin brother Ross was murdered by the IRA in 1975, had also been a successful athlete and worked as a BBC sports journalist.

It would have been more fitting if he had lived long enough to be featured in his own book.

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**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/co-founder-of-guinness-book-of-records-dead-at-78/241094/2 "2004-04-20T22:37:24Z")

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I presume that Roger Bannister’s first four-minute mile already gets a permanent entry. If it’s not already noted, they just have to add that along with the detail that Norris McWhirter was the guy operating the stopwatch.