Obituary of Bill Deedes, newspaper editor, reporter, humanitarian campaigner and soldier.
Rest in peace.
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The man was a journalistic fixture for seventy years, and a player in history. To have lived in a world which contained this man provided a connection to the great events of the 20th Century.
This is a grievous loss to the gaiety of the nation.
I was once told that his first bit of journalism was on the General Strike – written whilst he was a school boy.
Be that as it may (although I like to think it was true), may he rest in peace indeed.
His own quip upon receiving copy for editing seems sadly apt: “I’m infinitely grateful. Your reward will not be in this world.”
I noted at my blog that his last published article ends with:
Emphatically, he was one of those men who have left a footprint in the
sands of time.
They were about Baden Powell but they could apply to Deedes himself as well.
I’ve enjoyed Lord Deedes’ writing for almost as long as I’ve been reading newspapers (which isn’t very long at all on his scale of things), and long before I was aware of what an astonishing life he’d led. I’d never dismiss the value of cynicism in journalism, but he proved that it’s possible to have an outstanding career without showing the slightest trace of it. It’s not often you can say it about a 94 year-old, but his passing is something of a shock, and he’ll be greatly missed.