LINDA Smith was a rare commodity. She had the wit and the intelligence to sum up a situation in a brilliant one-line. And it was a skill she adapted to the pressures of radio panel games where living on one s wits is part of any contestant s curriculum vi

LINDA Smith was a rare commodity. She had the wit and the intelligence to sum up a situation in a brilliant one-line.

And it was a skill she adapted to the pressures of radio panel games where living on one's wits is part of any contestant's curriculum vitae.

From her stand-up act to her radio appearances she became a national ­treasure. Her death from cancer was a shock.

Here Warren Lakin, her long-term partner, tells of her career and the life they shared together over 23 years.

It is, at times, a moving story and one which, as expected, has a certain amount of humour and, occasionally, hilarity.