John Peel’s widow Sheila Ravenscroft has told the Liverpool Echo that she and her children were "enormously touched" by the tributes made to the legendary broadcaster after his death. She told the paper: "So many people have been so enormously kind”, adding that modest John would have been "beside himself" if he had known about the public reaction to his death.
Her interview with the paper came as Radio 1 dedicated a night to John Peel. On that programme Shelia picked the track ‘Does This Train Stop On Merseyside’ by Liverpool band Amsterdam to be played. On her choice of track she said: "At first I said no when I was asked to do it [select a track] because I'm not very good at that sort of thing. John just really loved the Amsterdam song. He always became really emotional when he played it. He wasn't capable of playing it without crying. If he played it on the radio, he'd have to put something else on immediately afterwards because he wouldn't be able to speak. And when he played it at home, he'd always need a cuddle afterwards".