Tributes have been paid to Eric Huntley, the publisher, educator and activist who played a pivotal role in shaping Black British cultural and political life and who lived in Ealing with his family from the 1960s, following his death on 21 January 2026 aged 96.
Born in Guyana on 25 September 1929, Mr Huntley arrived in Britain in the 1950s. Alongside his wife, Jessica Huntley, he co-founded Bogle-L’Ouverture Publications in 1969, creating one of the UK’s first Black-owned publishing houses dedicated to Black history, politics and radical thought. Through their publishing company, Jessica and Eric Huntley championed writers including Walter Rodney, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Beryl Gilroy and Valerie Bloom, helping to lay the foundations for Black British publishing.
The Huntleys’ work was closely connected to Ealing. Their publishing venture expanded into a bookshop in West Ealing, later known as the Walter Rodney Bookshop, which became a hub for political education, cultural resistance and community organising.
Last year (November 2025), Gunnersbury Park and Museum staged Radical Roots: The Huntleys’ Story, a temporary exhibition celebrating the couple’s legacy. Organised in partnership with the Friends of the Huntley Archives at LMA Foundation and Ealing council, and co-curated by Gunnersbury’s Young Curators, the exhibition featured rare archival material, bookstalls and artwork by local young people.
In 2022, the National Portrait Gallery commissioned a photographic montage by local Ealing artist Sharon Walters depicting Eric and Jessica Huntley, recognising their contribution to Black British cultural life and the lasting impact of their work in publishing, education and community organising.
Tributes were shared on X following news of Mr Huntley’s death. Councillor Aysha S. Raza wrote: “Very sorry to hear of Elder Eric Huntley’s passing to the ancestors this morning. He was such a font of wisdom and lived experience. It was an honour to have known him.”
Councillor Grace Quansah described Mr Huntley as “my second father”, adding: “Co-founder of Bogle-L’Ouverture Publications with Jessica Huntley, his legacy shaped Black British publishing, education, and my journey.”
Eric Huntley married Jessica Huntley in 1950. They had three children: two sons, Karl and Chauncey, and a daughter, Accabre. Karl Huntley died in 2011. Jessica Huntley died in 2013 aged 86.
