There were a lot of journalists who covered Game of Thrones during its eight-season run, but few like Sarah Hughes. Hughes, who wrote for The Guardian and Observer, was a big Song of Ice and Fire fan from long before the TV series premiered on HBO, and covered it with a huge amount of love. She fostered a vibrant, welcoming fan community and had fans among the cast and crew. According to her colleague Kate Abbott, when George R.R. Martin decided to give one interview around the time the show was ending, he sought out Hughes. The results speak for themselves. Once at an awards ceremony Kit Harington found her to tell her how sorry he was to hear about her illness and much he loved her writing. “Oh, how she dined out on that.”
Unfortunately, Hughes passed away this past April at the age of 48 from that same illness: stage four cancer. According to Abbott, she far outlived her prognosis. “I put her longevity down to her passion for life, telly, trashy books, Tottenham Hotspur and Cheltenham races – plus, of course, the depth of her love for her husband, Kris, and their two children, Ruby and Oisín.”
Clealry, Hughes had a powerful effect on people who came into contact with her. That includes Harington, who appears in a reel of people memorizing Hughes on a website celebrating her life. The whole video is nearly two hours long and very moving, but the Twitter account @KitHarington10 excerpted Harington’s section so you’re able to watch that in isolation if you wish.
Game of Thrones star Kit Harington (Jon Snow) honors Sarah Hughes
Here’s Harington below, reading an article Hughes wrote for The Guardian in 2019 about Game of Thrones and her cancer diagnosis, shortly before the final season was to premiere:
— Kit Harington (@KitHarington10) July 12, 2021
— Kit Harington (@KitHarington10) July 12, 2021
Let’s give Abbott the last word about her friend: “And dear Lady Sarah, our archmaester, keeper of the scrolls and the ultimate watcher on the Wall: we all raise a glass of the finest Dornish red to you. Fare thee well.”
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