With sorrow we report the passing of the following Officers and Members of the Charity during 2008, or before:
Bannister, Frederick - W Australia
Chapman, Ray
Christiansen, Rex - Macclesfield
Crawley, John C - London
Dettmer, Charles
Frost, George - Clitheroe
Garbutt, Christine
Garrett, Arthur
Hughes, Gwynne - Wrexham
Johnson, Stuart - Bidduph
Light, Nicholas
Macmillan, Gavin - Dundee
McCaskill, Douglas - Edinburgh
Moore, Malcolm - Higher Beoington
Morris, Martin - Ross on Wye
Neillands, Martin - London
Richley, Noel
Stott, Richard - Kingston upon Thames
Surplice, Ronald - Burwash
Weston, A Reg - Rochester
Ian Brodie OBE
Ian Brodie, who died in Maryland on May 7th aged 72, was, a Daily Telegraph correspondent in Washington and Los Angeles. He was born in Bath on March 23 1936 and showed an early interest in journalism as a reporter for the Luton News, Daily Sketch and Daily Express. After a time as the latter paper's foreign editor, he became the last editor of the Scottish Daily Express in Glasgow before his return to America with the Daily Telegraph. Beginning as a freelance in Los Angeles in 1975, he spent more than a decade covering the post Vietnam war, the rise of Ronald Reagan and disasters such as the volcanic eruption of Mount St Helens in Washington State and the Challenger space shuttle disaster. After becoming its Washington correspondent and putting put down roots in America he declined a return to London and moved to The Times.
David Gordois
AWARD-WINNING News of the World journalist David Gordois has died after losing his brave battle against cancer. Sir Richard Branson led tributes to the former Travel Editor, who was acknowledged as a "wonderful ambassador of travel writers and a true gentleman". Sir Richard, President of Virgin Atlantic, said: "Travellers had no greater friend than David. His deep knowledge of so many countries, tourist hotspots, pretty paths and unspoilt beaches, guided News of the World readers to some of the best holiday locations in the world.
''David can rest knowing that his wise advice will live on forever. Our thoughts are with his family."
David, 70, had worked at the News of the World since 1964, as a sub-editor and Letters Page editor before becoming Travel Editor. He wrote features that entertained, advised and appealed to readers and continued to contribute after retiring. He won numerous awards, and was the first popular tabloid journalist to be named English Tourist Board Travel Writer of the Year for the journalist or author "judged to have had the greatest impact on English tourism through articles or features".
News of the World Editor Colin Myler, said: "David was without question the most gifted travel editor of his generation. "His integrity and credibility within the travel industry was incomparable. He knew exactly what readers wanted and always championed their rights.
"On top of that he was one of the nicest people you could ever meet."
Married to Audrey for 47 years, David - who also leaves a son Jason - had the personal touch and earned a reputation as The Piano Man. He loved playing and throughout his travels performed on the same keys as Noel Coward, Liberace, Elvis and Andy Williams.
Last June, David was honoured with the Outstanding Media Contribution award by the Visit USA Association and spokeswoman Kate Burgess-Craddy said: "He will be sorely missed by all in the travel industry. David was a great travel journalist and a great man to work with. "He knew exactly what kind of holidays his readers liked, what would capture their imagination and get them travelling all over the world."
Justin Fleming, President of ABTA, the Travel Association, said: "Our thoughts go out to David's family and friends. He was not only a valued travel journalist but a real partner and supporter of the industry. He will be greatly missed." Stella Clery-Ackland, MD of Cellet Travel services, said: "He was a shining light in the travel industry and beloved by all.
"David was not only a superb writer and editor, but one of life's true gentlemen. He was a credit to the News of the World and an excellent ambassador for British travel writers and journalism as a whole.
"We shall miss his impromptu singing, his propensity to play every piano he came across, his honesty and enthusiasm. He is a hard act to follow." David Gordois's funeral will be at 1pm on Friday 30th May at Woking Crematorium, Hermitage Road, Woking GU21 8TJ.
The family have requested no flowers and any donations be made to : Woking Hospice, 5 Hillview Road, Woking GU22 7HW - Tel 01483 881750.
By Trisha Harbord - News of the World Travel Editor
DINA AKASS
One of Fleet Street's most popular journalists, Dina Akass, née Malik, died last week following a long illness.
Akass, 46, made her name during the late 1980s and early 1990s as a news reporter on a number of national tabloids, including the Sun, News of the World, the People, Daily Star and Today.
Paying tribute to Akass, the Daily Mirror editor, Richard Wallace, who worked with her when he was showbiz editor at the Sun, said: "It is no exaggeration to say she was one of the most good-hearted individuals you could ever care to meet and her sunny disposition and sheer joie de vivre were truly life-affirming."
Akass was born in Tripoli to an English mother and Sudanese father. The family left Libya when Muammar Gadafy came to power and Akass arrived in England aged eight, spending the rest of her childhood in Kent.
After school she joined the renowned Fleet Street News Agency. It was during this time that she met her future husband, Bill Akass, who was working for the rival National News Agency.
Akass was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1998. She gave birth to her second son, Max, the following year - her first son Callum was born in 1994 - and returned to work for the now defunct Mirror magazine The Look, juggling work, motherhood and her illness with humour and determination.
She also freelanced for women's magazines including Bella, Best, TV Quick, Woman's Own.
The Daily Mirror associate editor Peter Willis, who edited The Look, recalled: "Dina had a fantastic spirit. She was genuine, upbeat - even at the onset of her illness - and could get the most unlikely people to talk to her."
Akass's condition deteriorated in recent weeks and she died at Highgate nursing home, close to her home in North London.
Her husband, Bill - a former Mirror reporter and now editorial development director for News Group Newspapers - invites her friends and former colleagues to her funeral at Golders Green crematorium, Hoop Lane, London NW11 at 4pm on Thursday, May 22.
After the service, mourners are invited to gather at the Victoria Stakes pub, Park Road in Crouch End. Flowers and cards may be sent to the funeral directors, William Beckett, at 29 Junction Road, Archway, London N19 5QT.
Donations to the MS Society in memory of Dina are welcome: MS Society, MS National Centre, 372 Edgware Road, London NW2 6ND.
JAMES STANLEY JOHN FRENCH
"I say you chaps. My glass in empty!" - that was our Jim. Larger than life, with a ready wit, enthusiasm in all he did, and dedicated to his family, his friends, his church and last but by no means least, to journalism. I was proud to have Jim as a friend. I knew him from the days when we were both trainee reporters with the old South London Observer in Camberwell. We kept in touch over the years. In those early days Jim, with boundless energy, would take the steps up to our attic two at a time.
So it was with sadness and shock I learned of his death at St George's Hospital, London, following an operation which it was hoped would give him a better quality of life. For some years he had great difficulty in getting around.
Jim married Patricia in 1963 and they moved from Streatham, London to Billingshurst some years ago where they took an active interest in their local St Mary's Church. It was packed to capacity at the Thanksgiving Service on Feb 1st. An address was given by Canon C Pain. Among the tributes was one by Ken Morgan of the National Union of Journalists. He spoke of Jim's dedicated work for the Union, negotiating wages and conditions during difficult times and helping to resolve many welfare problems. In 1990 the NUJ made him a Member of Honour. Ken said: "He was a good friend and great company."
After doing two years National service in the Intelligence Corps Jim, a keen sportsman joined the Daily Mail on the Sports Desk and later mobbed to the Financial Times. He was also a life member of the old Newspaper Press Fund now the Journalists' Charity.
Jim leaves a wife and fourchildren, Angus, Fiona,Toby and Stephen. Donations in his memory are going to the NUJ Members in Need Fund and British Heart Foundation.
Marhita Wearing
JAMES SLATER
Journalists' Charity vice-president Jim Slater, believed to be the last surviving eye-witness of the terrifying Mill Dam race riot which erupted in South Shields in 1930, when Arab seamen battled with baton-wielding police, has died (November 30) at the age of 96.
The riot was a genuine "blood running in the gutter" scenario, with knives, chairs and even cobble stones ripped from the road used as weapons by the seamen. Jim saw one policeman stretchered off face down with a knife sticking in his back. "If they'd taken it out he would probably have died," said Jim, a teenage junior reporter at the time.
The Mill Dam riot had an unexpected re-examination more than 70 years after the event when North-based author Peter Mortimer became fascinated by the story. He decided to use it as the basis of both a book (Cool for Qat) and a stage play (Riot - South Shields 1930). To Mortimer's surprised delight NPF Council member David Leach was able to put him in touch with Jim Slater, who gave him an impressive amount of first-hand information.
"Jim was of enormous help to me in 2004 when I was researching the South Shields Yemeni seamen's riots," said Mortimer.
"I never expected to find an eyewitness, especially one such as Jim who had observed the riots as a junior reporter and could conjure them up in exact, vivid detail. He was wonderfully lucid, sharp and great company."
Jim, who enlisted in the Royal Tank Corps on the outbreak of war and served throughout the war as a sergeant with the Eighth Army, was renowned not only for his sheer professionalism but for his kindness and help to youngsters joining the profession.
He joined the NPF in 1951 and became deeply involved in working for the Fund, joining the Northern District Committee three years later. His dedicated service was recognised when he was appointed a vice-president of the NPF in 1983.
Jim Slater was one of the most respected journalists in the North of England and an active member of Cleadon Methodist Church.
Starting his career as a copyboy at the Shields Gazette when he was 14, he later moved to the Newcastle Evening Chronicle, heading the South Shields office and ultimately working as municipal editor for both the Chronicle and its sister paper, The Journal.
Poacher then turned gamekeeper as Jim was snapped up by Newcastle City Council to become one of the country's first local authority PR officers before retiring in 1976 although Jim kept working right to the end. Only last year the Shields Gazette, the paper on which he started his career, serialized his memoirs of his early days in journalism.
Jim, whose wife Nora died when they were both 90, leaves two sons. Peter is senior partner of quantity surveyors Slater Jackson Associates and Michael a former managing editor of HTV, is director of Quadrant Media Training Ltd.
RAY CHAPMAN
Ray Chapman, for many years a News of the World investigative reporter, has died (on Dec 31). He was 71 and retired from the paper only last September. Determined to quit at the top, the last story he brought in to the News of the World, that month, was a sensational expose of X-Factor judge Sharon Osbourne - a splash and spread which sent circulation through the roof.
It was a story of which any show business reporter in their prime would have been immensely proud. Ray never had any doubts about what he wanted to do in life - to write. He was sending scripts to Hollywood at the age of 16. But his father insisted that he first learn a trade and Ray became a hairdresser. Yet the urge to travel took over and he spent some years doing just that - in Canada as a barber on an Indian Reservation and later at sea with the United States Mecantile Marine.
Back home in the 60s he set up a hairdressing salon, but the determination to get into journalism was still there. One of his first cheques was from Tit Bits, the magazine where many of Fleet Street's stars had their first break. Ray's piece, loosely based on the confessions of a hairdresser, earned him 15 guineas. But it was a start. In 1970 he met Don Arden, the promoter dubbed the Al Capone of Rock and Roll and Sharon Osbourne's father. Their friendship lasted for life. Ray had the gift of making friends with most of the people he came across and consequently had a wide circle of contacts. As a result, he joined the News of the World in 1981 and embarked on a long career of investigative journalism, exposing much of the seamy side of life. One of his first front pages was an expose of a paedophile ring inside the Socialist Worker's Party - a double victory .
But he never lost the urge to be a writer and found time to publish two novels and a number of short stories, one of which appeared in a Christmas edition of the News of the World. When he picked up a novel by Jeffrey Archer he immediately spotted a host of errors and pointed them out to the author, who gracefully accepted the criticisms, and asked Ray to vet his next book. In recent years he suffered a number of health problems but was determined to continue making a contribution to the paper. His experience as an investigative reporter stood him in good stead and he offered his skills to all the paper's journalists - and lawyers.
He leaves a wife, Judi, and Anthony and Rachel from their marriage.
NOEL RICHLEY
Noel Richley MBE, who was treasurer of the Newspaper Press Fund for 26 years , has died aged 96. A former chief news editor of the Press Association, he joined the NPF(now the Journalists' Charity) in 1940, while working for the Daily Herald in Manchester.
In 1947 he moved to PA in London after five years service with the Royal Navy during World War II as a Gunnery Officer. One of his first jobs in journalism was on the Bury Times in Lancashire near his birthplace, Bamford, near Rochdale. He went on to join the Daily Mirror in Manchester and then the Daily Herald. After demobilisation, he returned to the Herald before joining PA following his marriage . He spent five years as naval correspondent before moving on to the news desk and rising to chief news editor until his retirement in 1975. He had a long interest in the work of the Newspaper Press Fund, and was the fund's treasurer until the age of 94. He was honoured with an MBE for his services to the fund.
Current chairman Robert Warren said: "Noel was an exceptionally kind and gentle man. While keeping a firm grip on the npf's finances he was full of compassion and made a lasting contribution to the work of the charity as a member of the council since 1955." He leaves his widow, Ursula (Sue), and one son and two daughters.
Donations to the Journalists' Charity in memory of Noel are welcome.
NICHOLAS LIGHT
Nicholas Light, who has died aged 69, was a journalist of many talents. He worked on national and regional newspapers, in television, as a successful freelance and finally as a senior information officer for Hampshire County Council.
In 1958 He joined the Hampshire Chronicle in Winchester, straight from National Service with the Royal Navy. After two years learning the basics of the job he moved on to the Lancashire Evening Post in Preston. But the call of Winchester persisted and he returned there after another three years to set up as a freelance with Joe Vodika as a partner. Working casual news desk shifts at the Daily Mail his talents were spotted and he was invited to work on ATV's Braden's Beat along with Esther Rantzen and a talented young team
One of the stunts he took part in was to test an infallible course of piano tuition, when, as a committed non pianist, he played a duet with Dudley Moore before an audience of millions. In Winchester the Crown Court complex had expanded and, with his wide network of contacts many of whom had become his friends, he was able to unearth the wide variety of background stories that lay behind the cases that passed through the courts. On one occasion, when the other reporters had left, ignoring the last case on the list, one of incest, Nick stayed. He knew that the accused, newly weds, were in fact a long separated brother and sister who had married in ignorance of their relationship. The headline on the News of the World splash read "Newly weds told never make love again"
So successful was he that Charlie Markus, legendary news editor of the News of the World made him an offer he couldn't refuse and he joined the paper, still based in Winchester but travelling the world, often following his own leads. But the call of television was still there and, in 1981, he joined Southern Television where he worked on the news desk until illness struck.
He fought it with extraordinary courage and was soon back at work as a senior information officer with Hampshire County Council, a role for which he was ideally suited. He retired 10 years ago to the Isle of Wight, where he lived happily with his second wife, Stephanie, by whom he had two children, and their dogs. First wife Mary and daughter Sally also survive him as well his stepdaughter.
ARTHUR GARRETT
It is with sadness that we record the death of one of our residents at the age of 95. Arthur lived in our homes for 17 years - at all three of our sites at some time.
His initial hopes of becoming a journalist were quashed when he was told he was under-qualified so became a printer instead. He still harboured a yearning to write and when he came back from the Middle East where he'd been serving in the war he was told that the standard of his letters he wrote home were such that the editor who had previously refused him a job would now employ him.
A successful career in the regional press followed as he worked his way up to deputy editor of the Hampshire Telegraph weekly series, then deputy editor of the Portsmouth Evening News until 1965.
CHARLES DETTMER
My friend Charles Dettmer died on November 8, 2007, in Pickering House. He had been there only six days after six weeks in Epsom Hospital. He was aged 85, and had suffered five heart attacks and a stroke.
He had stayed remarkably fit and up until he went into hospital was still driving his car.
During the war he served as a staff-sergeant in the Commandos and lost an arm in the Salerno landing in Italy.
He had an interesting career, freelancing in Cambridge and Coventry, then on the staffs of the News Chronicle, Evening Standard, Evening News, Daily Telegraph, The Times and , finally, the Financial Times, where I met him. He retired in about 1987.
Charles was a strong character - a highly competent news sub-editor, who had worked on sport earlier in his career. He certainly did not suffer fools easily.
At his request there was no funeral and he was cremated quietly and privately. Friends will meet for a memorial dinner soon.
by Jim French
CHRISTINE GARBUTT
With sadness we report the death of one of our Council members (trustees), Christine Garbutt. She joined the Council in 1993 and was elected a Vice President in 2004.
From school she started on a local paper in Hayes, Middlesex, but at the age of 18 went to work for the Daily Mirror, an association that was to last for many years.
After a spell in Canada in the early 1960s she returned to write features for the Mirror Group's weekly magazine, Reveille. In 1971 she left the staff to freelance for Reveille and the Daily Mirror where she became one of the first women to write a column on the sports pages and later was to be the right-hand woman to the Mirror's aunt, Marje Proops.
In the 1990s she spent months working undercover in a sex chatlines company and, after she exposed it, her life was threatened.
She left the Daily Mirror in 1997 but continued her long association with Fleet Street by writing articles and through her membership of the Press Golfing Society as well as her longstanding work as a trustee.