Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 16, 2026

Robert Dellar

Robert Dellar was a British activist, musician and poet who was one of the founders of the Mad Pride movement.

Last revised
Jul 16, 2026
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Robert Dellar
Portrait of Dellar, 2016
Born(1964-12-16)16 December 1964
Died17 December 2016(2016-12-17) (aged 52)
London
EducationWBGS
Alma materUniversity of Sussex
OccupationDevelopment worker
Years active1980s-2016
Notable workMad Pride (ed.)
PartnerShirley
Children1

Robert Dellar (16 December 1964 – 17 December 2016)1 was a British activist, musician and poet who was one of the founders of the Mad Pride movement. 234

Dellar grew up in Garston, Hertfordshire,5 attending Watford Grammar School for Boys.6.

In the mid 1980s Dellar moved to Brighton to study at Sussex University, also publishing the fanzine Straight Up.7 He then moved to London, where he would live for the rest of his life.1 He founded Spare Change Books, an independent publisher, in 1995.

Dellar worked for the mental health charity Mind, initially at Hackney & City Mind in the early 1990s. He also founded Hackney Patients Council in 1994.8 He was appointed as a development worker at Southwark Mind in 1997.2

Dellar died of a pulmonary embolism one day after his fifty-second birthday, with a post mortem revealing he also had pancreatic cancer.92 He wrote several books, and a biography was published posthumously.10

Publications

  • Gobbing, Pogoing and Gratuitous Bad Language!: An Anthology of Punk Short Stories (editor) Spare Change Books (1998) ISBN 0952574454
  • Seaton Point Robert Dellar and others, Spare Change Books (1998) ISBN 0952574411
  • Mad Pride: A Celebration of Mad Culture (Edited by Robert Dellar with Ted Curtis and Esther Leslie), Spare Change Books (2003) ISBN 095257442X
  • Splitting in Two: Mad Pride and Punk Rock Oblivion Unkant Publishers (2014) ISBN 0992650909
  • Kiss Of Life: Remembering Robert Dellar (ed. Lawrence Burton) Ce Acatl Publishing (2017)
References

References

  1. Hunt, Ruth. "Tribute to Robert Dellar (1964 - 2016)". National Survivor User Network. Retrieved 3 December 2017. In a typically low-key style, Robert posted on Facebook on December 15 that he had to go into hospital and that it was the day before his birthday. [...] On December 17 Robert died suddenly from a pulmonary embolism.
  2. McKenna, Denise (7 January 2017). "Obituary: Robert Dellar". Mental Health Resistance Network. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  3. Hervey, Nick (June 2009). "The bigger picture". Mental Health Today: 23.
  4. Abraham, Amelia. "Remembering Mad Pride, The Movement That Celebrated Mental Illness". vice.com. Vice Media. Retrieved 21 January 2026.
  5. Monk, Claire (2017). Growing Up In Garston in Kiss of Life: Remebering Robert Dellar (1 ed.). Ce Acatl Publishing. pp. 181–184.
  6. Hayes, Steve (2017). Bop Til You Drop in Kiss of Life: Remembering Robert Dellar (1 ed.). Ce Acatl Publishing. pp. 95–105.
  7. Dines, Mike (2016). "A eulogy to Robert Dellar: Mike Dines in conversation with Ted Curtis". Punk & Post-Punk. 5 (3): 349–352. doi:10.1386/punk.5.3.349_7. Retrieved 21 January 2026.
  8. Conway, Terry. "I had my 21st birthday in a psychiatric hospital". National Survivor User Network. Retrieved 21 January 2026.
  9. "Activists mourn Robert Dellar, co-founder of Mad Pride and a 'tenacious force for good'". Disability News Service. 22 December 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  10. Burton, Lawrence; Pearson, Shirley (2017). Kiss of Life - Remembering Robert Dellar. Ce Acatl.
External links