Award-winning filmmaker Lesley Paterson scatters her late husband's ashes on top of the Scottish peak where he asked her to marry him Click here to visit the Scotland home page for the latest news and sport By John Paul Breslin For The Scottish Daily Mail Published: 15:00 EDT, 22 August 2024 | Updated: 15:00 EDT, 22 August 2024 e-mail View comments Award-winning Scots filmmaker Lesley Paterson has scattered the ashes of her late husband on the mountain where he proposed. The screenwriter said she ‘sprinkled’ the ashes of Simon Marshall on Dumyat hill in her hometown of Stirling yesterday. The emotional moment came during a celebration of his life, after he died from cancer .
Paterson, who won a Bafta and was Oscar nominated for her adapted screenplay for 2022 film All Quiet on the Western Front , said: ‘What a day so far! Sprinkled Simon’s ashes at the top of Dumyat in Stirling, where he proposed! 100s showed up to walk with us. From Australia, America and beyond.’ Last week Ms Paterson said she plans to ‘celebrate’ Mr Marshall’s life by doing something new every year on his birthday.
Ms Paterson and husband Simon Marshall at the Academy Awards in Los Angeles last year The 43-year-old Bafta winner made the announcement in a video posted on social media as she set off on her first memorial event – taking a trip on a luxury train to Bath. Sharing the video online, she wrote: ‘Every year I will celebrate Simey on his birthday by doing something I’ve never done! Love you all and thank you for the outpouring of support.’ Click here to visit the Scotland home page for the latest news and sport Advertisement In the video, Ms Paterson said: ‘Today is Simy’s birthday, the 14th of august.
And it’s been a hell of a time, but one thing is for sure; I am so grateful for all of your amazing support. ‘Friends, family, people I have known a long time, people I’ve known a short time and yet the human spirit is incredible. I am honouring Simon today, on his birthday by taking a train – the Pullman train – which is just a beautiful, beautiful thing and I’m going to Bath, courtesy of my great friends Henrieta and Mike.
‘So I feel a lucky girl and I am going to celebrate my amazing husband.’ The video was shot in the Cygnus carriage of the Pullman train which, incidentally, was designed by another Tinsel Town film figure – director Wes Anderson. The carriage itself was built in the 1950s and has its fair share of cinematic history, featuring in the 1972 film Agatha starring Dustin Hoffman and Vanessa Redgrave.
It is one of eleven on the British Pullman, whose carriages have hosted royalty, carried statesmen and survived World War II bomb raids over the years. Earlier this year, the couple revealed the 51-year-old professor of exercise science at San Diego State University in California had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. He died in June.
Ms Paterson scattered her husband's ashes on the top of Dumyat hill in Stirlingshire Ms Paterson shared details of yesterday’s celebration earlier this year, writing: ‘What do most folks remember Simon as? Loving, witty, funny, and making everyone laugh. ‘In the midst of our emotions, we find joy in our hearts as we remember him. So, we want to celebrate, not just commemorate, his life with stories, singing, and ceilidh dancing.
‘We are excited to share this joy with all those who can join us in Scotland around August 21st/22nd in the Stirling area. For those from afar, we will film the event so you can join in.’ As well as working as a sports scientist, Mr Marshall directed a number of films and had been collaborating with his wife on bringing Viktor Frankl’s 1946 book Man’s Search for Meaning - based on his experiences in a Nazi concentration camp - to the big screen.
The couple had vowed to fight the illness together and in January launched an appeal to pay for special treatment which raised almost £100,000. But Ms Paterson took to social media in June to confirm her husband had died in the US. Paterson had said: ‘My lovely darling boy passed away yesterday, June 1st.
‘He was my soul and my light. The pain is real but I will take this suffering and turn it into beauty in honour of his spirit. Love you all.
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