MR. HACK No. 85

Our picture comes from a time when newspapers were family affairs ... There were once three brothers: David, Bertie and John Alexander, owners of the Co. Down Spectator, the Newtownards Spectator and the Newtownards Chronicle. This was an outing in 1961 of staff of the Newtownards Chronicle. Not sure of the name of the hotel, but we think the legend just out of shot reads Glens of Antrim Hotel. The gentleman sitting comfortably in the back row with a warm smile on his face is our friend and occasional contributor, George Hamilton. Sadly, he can remember little of the day - in fact, nothing of the day! But happen it did. There is another journalist in the picture. David Alexander, grey-haired with a white hankerchief hanging from his breastpocket. (He gave one of the team here his first job in journalism). Beside David sits his wife, Lolita, a columnist of the time who knew how to create controversy.  On the extreme right of the picture is a man who was works manager/court reporter/sports reporter and much else besides, Norman Boal. He helped run the ship along with editor Bob McNinch, sadly absent when the picture was taken, most probably by staff photographer, Farnham Nixon. The other people featured are members of the composing room staff and their families ... it was an outing and all the family went along, not a chosen few.  *Thanks are due to  the Newtownards Chronicle for providing the image.

 

Comments

[sm]

Second from the right in the front row (ignoring the youngster!)is Rena Stewart with hubby Warwick, who shortly afterwards went to the NL, then to the BT as a comp. They're still friends of ours. Behind him, two rows back, is another comp, Jimmy McKay, who also went to the Tele. He's still around Bangor somewhere.

[Blogmaster]

There were five of us out for coffee yesterday at The Yard in Holywood ... Three are reluctant contributors to copyboys, sadly. Our President had asked me to work on them, to encourage them to come along ... Martin Lindsay, William Graham and George Hamilton who, I believe, has made a solemn promise to come along soon and say something ... Anyway, our beloved chairman was there and the young waiter asked him what he would like to drink ... A latte, a Cappuccino, a mocca (?), an Americano? ... there was pregnant pause while our chairman considered what was on offer. Then, as if my magic he announced:"No .... thanks, bring me a coffee." We all laughed, of course, and realised why we love our chairman.

[A.McQ.]

Think you will find, Mr Blogmeister, sir, that The Best Chairman We Ever Had, who was until recently a columnist with a worldwide readership, is completely unused to spending time in teetotal establishments or dealing with the unappetising fare offered therein, hence his confusion. He always thought a milk bar was precisely that - a bar which served milk with whisky.

[Chairman]

Only pretentious people order a latte, a cappuccino or a mocca etc. They like the idea of coffee. The smell of coffee. But can't stand the taste. That is why they choose latte (warm milk), cappuccino (a cup of foam) or a mocca (hot chocolate under and assumed name). These drinks only exist because there are more people who like sitting in coffee bars than like coffee. Such folk would have absolutely loved the coffee they used to serve in the Belfast Telegraph canteen. It was wet and warm but didn't look like coffee. Didn't taste like coffee and may in fact have never met a coffee bean or a granule of instant. Indeed, it is possible, that drinks as tasteless as latte may have been invented in the Telegraph canteen. Credit where it is due.

[A.McQ.]

Hear Hear, Mr Chairman. That's why you're The Best Chairman We Ever Had.

[JC]

No... Telegraph coffee may well have had a sprinkle of Miss (Ma) Rowan's carefully tilted cigarette ash ... which could give the coffee (or tea) a gritty flavour.

[George Hamilton]

Mr Caruth also showed us a similar pic of the group of Newtownards Chronicle people (I think it must have been taken at a different occasion). In this one was Rory Crilly, who came from Dundalk, and was a great reporter, going on to help mastermind, from New York, the BBC's coverage of the Falklands War. I last met him when we had lunch in Belfast a year or so after the war. Rory was always full of life, but sadly, he threw himself in front of a train in England when he was 42, apparently because of martial problems. So this pic - which John might like to put up - carried a lot of memories for me.
But as John says I have no recollection at all of what the event was.
I do, though, remember Norman Boal, who Rory and I shared a shoebox-sized office with in the Chronicle. Norman was a confirmed bachelor, and his personal hygiene left a lot to be desired. Rory and I used to loathe the summer...(Both images are in the Pictures album - Blogmaster.)

[Carl Anderson]

This came to us via an email:
John, this is making me feel old. Do you realise that pic was taken nearly 50 years ago . . . and I had just joined the Telegraph Sports Department. At any rate, great to see so may old friends. Back row extreme left is Tommy Whitla (photographer), two down Jimmy Boal, now retired as Chronicle manager. Second row from back: Alex Haslett, Bobby Ballance, Jimmy McKay. Centre: Sheelagh Reagan (deceased) Dessie Reid. Front centre: Gordon Orr and wife Clara (Harry Cavan's eldest daugter, sister Margaret was cub reporter in Chronicle before emigrating to Canada), Warwick Stewart and wife Renee (didn't she work in County Down Spec office?). Also front row: Mrs Annie Finlay. Centre: Louie ? (Chron photographic printer) and partner Martin ? (comp both Spec and Chronicle.)

[sm]

Margaret Cavan worked as a reporter in the NL after leaving the Chronicle. She married advertising manager Tom Skip and then went to Canada. Tom died shortly afterwards and Margaret returned home. I think she's still around somewhere.

[Jackie Sinnerton (Thompson)]

This also came to us via an email:
Well hello there … lovely to hear from you … someone has already pointed me in the direction of copyboys. I am working here in Brisbane at the Sunday Mail with a guy called Patrick Quinn who worked in The Telegraph for a while and is a friend of David Ballantine’s … he’s a great bloke.

It’s great to tune in to the past. Although I have been trying to forget how long ago I left the Telegraph … if you log on to the pic (in Pictures album) you will see I am still milking the Irish Tourist Board … (I do remember some very drunk and disorderly days out, courtesy of Bord Failte when I worked in the Tele.)

Last year I had a whirlwind tour of Belfast to write a travel story for News Ltd and it was great! The pic shows me second from the right of pic enjoying the fire at Bushmills.

I visited the laneway at the back of the old Newsletter building … Duke of York etc etc … couldn’t believe how fancy and chic it all is … the new Newsletter building is very upmarket.. I stayed in a hotel right opposite!

These new buildings certainly beat the rat infested offices at the Carrick Advertiser and the Newsletter of my day.

I will keep a close eye on your website and enjoy trying to work out who everyone is!

[Blogmaster]

MAKING A POINT ...

This one is for grammar nuts - discover how the colon is making a comeback. No, really. Some may only have a semi interest in this, we fear ...

[ http://icanhaz.com/colonsarecool ]

[Wine-ioh!]

This one may be of interest to Cal (we imagine a fluent French speaker) and Alastair (no doubt a man with a good nose for plonk) ... how to open a bottle of wine with a shoe ...

[ http://www.wimp.com/wineshoe/ ]

[President]

re: Margaret Cavan-Day (see SM's contribution above)

As far as I know, Margaret is still in Canada. Certainly, at the time of her father Harry Cavan's funeral a few years ago, she was living in a town near Toronto, married to a lawyer called Wilfred Day. She wrote me a letter at that time. I later sent an email, but don't think I received a reply.

[President]

NORMAN BOAL
Norman Boal is mentioned in the photo caption above as sports reporter/works manager on the "Newtownards Chronicle." But did he not also become editor after Bob McNinch retired as editor? I remember him as being as lugubrious as Bob was convivial. Who were the editors in the years after Bob McNinch and Norman Boal?

LOLITA ALEXANDER
Lolita Alexander also appears in the 1961 picture above. She went on to become one of Ireland's oldest and long-established columnists right into the 21st century. She ran a column in the "Co Down Spectator" entitled "Come Here Till I Tell You" almost until her death just a few years ago in her 90s.
She was the daughter of a diplomat based in Spain. She met her husband David Alexander when he passed through Spain on his bicycle on a touring trip of the Continent.

IAN ALEXANDER
The Alexanders continue the practice of writing in the paper they own. Ian, whose grandfather journalist started the Spectator, has a column every week now entitled "Grumpy Old Man" in which he moans, muses and entertains.

[Blogmaster]

*Everything you write is correct, Mr President. First, Norman was an all rounder and he took over the editorship of the Newtownards Chronicle when Bob McNinch died. The current editor is John Savage and he has been editor for a good while, I believe. Norman had a form of shorthand which owed nothing to Pitman. He simply abbreviated words for speed. It is also interesting about him that he was a referee and was apparently, so the legend goes, in charge of the historic match featuring Belfast Celtic when a player, Jimmy Jones, had his leg broken. Norman never quite got over that incident and felt he had lost control and stopped refereeing.

*Lolita Alexander was a very amusing columnist and was not afraid of controversy either. She once wrote a column with references to Gauguin and used as an illustration a small picture of one of the artist's celebrated paintings featuring, as it would half expect, several bare chested South Seas maidens. The furore that followed its publication filled the Spectator for weeks, complaints about the nakedness being led, if memory serves me right, by Beryl Holland, a Bangor version of Mary Whitehouse who used the Letters column instead of a telephone.

*Ian Alexander, apart from being a very amusing and talented columnist, also writes the golfing notes in the Spectator and very good and thorough they are, too. Your Blogmaster can make a claim to having been partly instrumental in encouraging him to restart his Grumpy Old Man pieces.

[Blogmaster]

DEATH OF MAN ABOUT
TOWN IAN HILL

Sadly we have to report the sudden death of Ian Hill - a true Man About Town with a long journalistic career.

The former Belfast Telegraph ‘Man About Town’ columnist died in the company of his wife Helena at their Strangford home yesterday. The father-of-two daughters suffered a suspected heart attack. He was 73.

During his illustrious journalism career Mr Hill worked for the News Letter, Irish Times and Belfast Telegraph, as well as UTV, BBC and RTE. He was also on the launch staff of the Belfast Telegraph ill-fated, Ulster Week.

Ian also served on many boards, including the Historical Buildings Council, the Ulster Orchestra and the Open Fringe Downpatrick. He was also on the board of the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival and the Ulster Theatre Company.

His wife Helena last night paid tribute to her husband, describing him as “ a great man who will be dearly missed”.

“I knew him since my student days,” she said.

He was educated at Royal Portora School and before embarking on a career in journalism, Ian qualified as a dentist at Queen’s University in Belfast.

He was always interested in the arts and writing and while at Queen’s he honed his skills, becoming editor of the university’s Gown newspaper.

His other passions were travel and food and he was formerly a director of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board and is the author of and contributor to many travel books about the island of Ireland — most recently My Lagan Love.

[Chris Ryder]

Very sad to hear of Ian's death I knew him from his slightly bohemian Ulsterweek days and he was always at the cutting edge of style and topicality. He was a man of many interests and surprising depth with a wicked sense of fun and satire. Many cultural constituencies will miss his input. Deepest sympathy to Helena.

[Graham McKenzie]

Though I was never associated with the arts, Ian always had a smile and a nod for me, often across a crowded room. At times he seemed to be everywhere. He was instantly likeable. He was ever affable. Someone it was always a pleasure to meet.

[Cal McCrystal]

Condolences to all Ian's friends. I met him only twice. When he was with the NI Tourist Board in (I think) High Street, I talked to him about a travel piece I was writing for the Sunday Times. And about ten years ago he reported for the Belfast Telegraph on a reading I had been invited to give at the Linen Hall Library. On both occasions he was extremely affable and professional.

[Cal McCrystal]

When one clicks on Newspapers world-wide at top left-hand of this blog, one sees the words "Compare from hundreds of lenders and save at UKLoan.com" Is "compare from" now common usage? Strange that it hasn't been corrected, since it doesn't show UKLoan.com in very exacting colours.

[Chairman]

I suppose I've known Ian Hill for the better part of 50 years and the above tributes have listed many of his qualities. We shouldn't forget his charm. Ian could have charmed the birds off the trees when he put his mind to it and he didn't have to put his mind to it. It was a natural gift that made him an amiable colleague and occasional drinking companion. By sheer coincidence I mentioned in the blog a few days ago how he saved my drinking career by introducing me to whiskey and milk when I feared an ulcer might have ended my playing career. He'll be remembered fondly.

[KB]

I agree with the Chairman wholeheartedly. I also knew Ian for a lifetime. Like me, he came from Enniskillen and went to Portora. He was a contemporary and lifetime friend of another Copyboy, John Trew, and it was through John that I met him and his first wife Nikki. In days long past, there were many convivial evenings at the Trew residence in Bangor. Both Ian and John were at Queen's along with Phil Coulter and others. Ian was one of the first journalist writer/broadcasters in the arts field, a role he pursued for many years, and we are well served by his commitment to the promotion of cultural activities in Belfast and beyond. I think of the Cathedral Quarter arts festival as an example. I last saw him just last week at Roisin Walsh Dunseith's funeral in Strangford and we wondered, as you do at such times, who would be next.

[Ian Sanderson]

So sorry to hear about Ian Hill's death. I remember him well from my early days in UTV, both in front of camera and at the occasional jazz gig.
He was, as Graham so eloquently put it, "instantly likeable" and "ever affable".

[Alastair McQueen]

Ian Hill was what we used to call a Character. He was witty, amusing, charming and to be in his company was a joy. On top of that he had immense talent.

[JC]

All that has been said about Ian Hill is true ... let me add that Ian was a pleasure to work with - he was reliable, accurate, calm under pressure and knew how to name drop for the Man About Town column he produced so successfully for what turned out to be an ungrateful newspaper.

[Graham McKenzie]

GORDON DUFFIELD

I am sorry to have to record the death of Gordon Duffield, long-time journalist and PR man.

Gordon has a special place in the media history of Northern Ireland as the founder of one of the Province's first public relations consultancies.

Gordon, who lived near Holywood, was a reporter on the "Belfast Telegraph" before moving to Ulster Television in its early days as Head of Publicity.

Later, despite scepticism from former journalistic colleagues he set up the consultancy IPR (Irish Public Relations) and built it into one of the most successful early consultancies - first with offices at Shaftesbury Square, later at the Midland Hotel centre and latterly at Holywood.

His "Monday Club" receptions for the press became legendary and will be remembered by older Copyboys. Nobody wrote a better press release and if there was a story in even the dullest-sounding of companies, Gordon could find it and "sell" it.

He was a pioneer and today's public relations industry owes much. He will be fondly remembered by both pr and press people.

[Cal McCrystal]

That is distressing news, Graham. Gordon and I were colleagues on the BT. We lived only a mile from one another near Ballyhackamore. He was outstandingly professional and a snappy dresser. I last met him while writing about Mo Mowlem for Reader's Digest. He seemed to have changed very little.

[KB]

Distressing indeed. I was Gordon's first employee. That was when he started Irish Public Relations in the office at Ulster Bank House in Shaftesbury Square. It was 1966 and I was a callow youth fresh from the East Antrim Times while he was an elegant man about town with a style and sophistication I envied. How sad this news is.

[Cal McCrystal]

Gordon, I'm sure, had he lived to read today's Guardian, would have been tickled by two stories therein. One, headed "Streetwise teachers 'breeding illiteracy'." complained about kids in school being allowed to communicate in "street" - an argot mixing Cockney, Indian, Caribbean and "innit". These kids fail exams, and yet are not encouraged to speak reasonable English that employers understand. So they fail to get jobs. The second story, by Tanya Gold is about the protest camp in London's Parliament Square that the Mayor Boris Karloff (sorry, Doris Johnson) has called an eyesore. The camp, certainly an eyesore, was established on May Day this year. According to Ms Gold, "And ever since it has lended [sic] something of a fresh look to the seat of London power." Well, well. That must have sended some comfort to those "street"-talking children.

[Blogmaster]

IAN HILL:
AN OBITUARY

*The following obituary will appear in tomorrow's Belfast Telegraph:

Ian Hill, who has died suddenly at 73, was a journalist who loved being saddled with the label Man About Town. He was on first name terms with authors, actors and producers and wrote knowledgeably about the arts in and around Belfast where he never missed the opening of a new show at the Opera House.
Hill’s first taste of real journalism came in the early 60s when he arrived at the Belfast Telegraph offices straight from Queen’s University where he had been studying dentistry and had been the editor of Gown.
He joined the staff of a new BT tabloid called Ulsterweek of which I was news editor and immediately brushed away the traditional cobwebs surrounding the newspaper scene of that time with his articles about bodies like the Tourist Board and the Arts Council which appeared to be immune from criticism and soon found out they were’t after all.

After his spell on Ulsterweek, Ian became one of the original freelance writers around the Belfast scene at a time when freelance journalists were a novelty. In articles he wrote for the daily Press, including the Belfast Telegraph, he managed to astonish and occasionally upset editors like the late Jack Sayers with his way out comments on the establishment and its leaders.

As he grew older, Hill’s love of the arts and the theatre became more apparent in his writings and he was always in demand for art and theatre reviews and for his opinions on the musicals and superstars that came to town.
He and his second wife, Helena, were popular and ever present on the theatre and art exhibition scene.
His comments and his stories were always sharp and original and he had a way with words that delighted his readers.
Ian always had a sneaking regard for the Belfast Telegraph and its various editors, including Edmund Curran and Martin Lindsay who had an admiration for his way with a pen. He returned to the paper as Man About Town and his regular visits to the social scene lit up his pages.

Ironically Hill spent several years at the Tourist Board, one of the bodies he used to criticise in his early days at Ulsterweek. He brought a new perspective to the way the Board dealt with its publicity scene and was responsible for journalists visiting and writing about resorts and beauty spots in a way that had never happened before.

Eric Thurley, who worked closely with Ian at the Tourist Board said today:”He had a positive and original outlook towards putting the province on the map and travelled extensively as well to talk to influential people about what Northern Ireland had to offer visitors.”

But Ian was a writer at heart and eventually he returned to his first love, freelance journalism. By this stage of his career he was also writing bestselling books about the province and its beauty and about the arts.

However, Ian, a father of two whose first wife was journalist Nikki Hill, died with one ambition still unfulfilled. The last time we talked – typically at a Grand Opera House reception – he confided that he had it in mind to write a novel with an Ulster flavour. Sadly it never happened.

Eddie McIlwaine

[Eddie McIlwaine]

*Gordon Duffield. A man with great imagination who started in the BT the same day as me. Later he went to UTV and then he set up the Monday Club with one of the first, in fact the very first PR agency in Belfast. Loved the guy and got pissed with him at his Monday club on many occasions. Remember him bringing Miss India to Belfast - Miss World at the time - and introducing her to snow.

[Blogmaster]

Finally managed to get the funeral notice from the Telegraph:

HILL, IAN JULIAN McCARTAN, July 16, 2010 (suddenly) at home, dearly-loved husband of Helena. Service in Down Cathedral, English Street, Downpatrick on Friday 23rd July at 12.00 noon and burial afterwards in the adjoining churchyard. House private. Family flowers only please. Donations in lieu may be sent, if desired, for N.I. Chest, Heart and Stroke, c/o Kirkwoods Funeral directors, 150A Kings Road, Knock, Belfast, BT5 7EU.

[Maurice Smyth, Auckland]

I appreciate you passing on the sad news about Gordon of whom I have the fondest of memories. We worked together on two occasions - as colleagues in the BT reporters' room and again at UTV in 1960 when I returned home after a
two-year contract with the Evening Post in Wellington.

I was extremely fortunate to be appointed by him Press Officer in the department he headed as Public Relations Manager. Prior to that, he and a secretary handled a
daunting schedule getting a new show on the road.

He was a dynamo with a huge capacity for work and this, along with his outgoing nature and bubbly personality, saw him held in enormous respect by Havelock House staff no matter at what level in those early days when going the extra mile was par for the course.

I learned a lot from him in the time we worked together,
particularly on the art of developing professional relationships, and I've ever been grateful for that. He was always a delight to be around. Thank you for the opportunity to post a memory. .

[Blogmaster]

TIME TO SMILE
AWHILE ...

We like to think we keep our readers informed ... we also like to think we amuse them too. So, to that end, we have an updated collection of Visual Jokes in the appropriate album on the left ... take a moment to have a smile at least ... Engrish can be difficult, you know ...

[Chairman]

Thank you Blogmaster for introducing a little levity back into Copyboys but there are also serious things we should be publicising. Like how, after the age of 65 you should stop buying anything new. Yesterday, against my better judgement, my wife insisted we needed a new telephone. (She's going a little deaf and blames the phone). So we purchased a corded phone that gave you a free cordless one with it. They came with two books of 63 pages of fine print instructions on how to plug it in and how to make a call. Skills I had already mastered on my old phones. I followed all the instructions to the letter and was shocked to discover that the whoever wrote the book of instructions was misinformed. They say that if I press certain symbols certain things will happen. They do not. I somehow managed to install a list of friends numbers in the 'phone book' but cannot ring any of them. I am aware that for Copyboys of our vintage, taking things that have stopped working for repair is a waste of time. Anything older than five minutes is regarded as a museum piece which you can't get the parts for and they don't make anymore. So the Simpsons are intermittently isolated. I don't care. I am not buying anything new again. EVER. If anyone has any urgent information to convey, they can bring it over personally or mail it. (I almost said, send a telegram, but that's another thing they don't make anymore.) P.S. I read somewhere a while back that when the RAF introduced a new aircraft during World War 2, the instruction book on How To Fly it had just forty pages.)

[Daph]

Please, could someone email him the telephone number for Help the Aged ...

[Graham]

...but there's another change which will upset
old people. Help the Aged is no more. It's called Age NI now!

[Chairman]

Good News. I am contactable again. I have returned the new phone to the shop and the young lady behind the counter couldn't have been more helpful. Or condescending. I certainly had less trouble returning the item than John Cleese did with his dead parrot. However, she gave the impression that the fault may have lain, not in the stars, but in myself. "Would you like something simpler?" she enquired. I explained that we had followed all the instructions that were followable and that it was the phone that was defective, not I. She smiled and gave me my money back. Then sold me another phone which she said was just a telephone you could make calls on and receive calls on. I restrained myself. Did not explode and scream "That's what a telephone does." I merely declined her kind offer to insure my new phone for £5.90 against breakages. I have never actually broken a phone before but suspect I might if this one doesn't work. Fortunately I shall not be calling for any help from Age Concern. (What's it called now? Probably something trendy like Oldfarts.Com.)

[John Trew]

I have just attempted to post 500 words of anecdotage about my recently-deceased friends Ian Hill and Gordon Duffield. Alas, not for the first time, technology let me down and I am too weary to re-key them.

Instead, I shall inflict them on those survivors of the 60s I meet at Ian's funeral at Down Cathedral tomorrow...

[Ian Sanderson]

John, there are several Copyboys who won't be able to make it to Down Cathedral this weekend, but who would be very keen to read your anecdotage about Ian and Gordon. Please persist in your labours...

[A.McQ]

John, please persist...but don't ask The Best Chairman We Ever Had for assistance!

[KB]

Ian Hill was laid to rest this afternoon on a sunny slope beside Down Cathedral. At the service beforehand, tributes were paid by the lawyer Brian Garrett and by Andy Crockart, formerly of UTV. There were solos from the renowned opera singer Angela Feeney and from the poet Ciaran Carson who played tin whistle before giving a reading.
Among those present from the print media, PR and broadcasting were John Caruth, John Trew, Michael Drake, Paul Clements, Ivan Little, Paul Clark, Liz Kennedy, Rob Morrison, Moore Sinnerton, Walter Love, Grania McFadden, David Dunseith, Peter Spratt, Larry Nixon, Howard Beattie, Stanley and Maureen Matchett, Geoff Hill, Ian Knox, Darwin Templeton, Kim Lenaghan, Jim McDowell, Chris Spurr, Noel Russell, Ken Reid and Robin Greer. The world of music and the arts included Neil Shawcross, Bobby Hanvey, Solly Lipsitz, Bill Montgomery, Joe and Catherine McWilliams, David Byers, David Torrans, Joe McKee, Terri Hooley. And there were other faces perhaps not as familiar as they once were, like Sean Farren and Erskine Holmes. Apologies to anyone left out but you can't see everybody. Also among the mourners was the photographer Alan Le Garsmeur with whom Ian collaborated so successfuly in their celebrated book on Strangford. Alan tells me that at the time of Ian's death, they were working on a book about Lough Erne.
And during the service, a letter of condolence was read from Seamus Heaney, who could not be present, in which he said he learned the news of Ian's passing in a text from Bobby Hanvey. Now that's networking.

[Graham]

Thank you, Keith, for a very comprehensive and professional report.

[Alastair McQueen]

Another death, I'm afraid. Some older Copyboys may well remember visiting fireman Stanley Blenkinsop - former North East district reporter on the Daily Express in its heyday and later Northern News Editor in Manchester - who died last night. He, Graham and Joe Gorrod were all on the Express at the same time and Stanley - quite a colourful character to put it mildly! - made the occasional foray to Belfast during The Troubles. After retiring from the Express Stanley enrolled at university as a mature - very mature - student and got a degree.

[Graham]

When Stanley was the chef de bureau in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, the Express sent me there for a period to help out when his No. 2 was off. Unfortunately, on stories, I couldn't understand what a lot of the Geordies were saying - and they couldn't understand me! I was recalled after the first week.

[JC]

I remember Stanley quite well ... I was in charge at the Newtownards Spectator and had a story about punters boycotting a local bookie. I thought it was good crack and rang the Express and Stanley 'bought' the yarn and paid me very well for it ... we managed to keep in touch for a while, then he disappeared back to England. Fond memory.

[A.McQ.]

Graham - on the subject of accents and "language difficulties": when I joined The Journal in Newcastle Upon Tyne after the BT and was doing the latenight calls to the police, firebrigade, ambulance, hospitals etc I had a run of good fortune because of my accent. When I said: "It's The Journal calling...." many of the cops thought I said it was The General as in General Hospital and would give me all the sorts of info not normally given out. It dried up after a few months when the cops had an investigation into how the stories were getting to the paper and concluded that it was all a mistake and put it down to my accent. They refused to admit that their coppers were thick as two short planks.

[Blogmaster]

An email comes to us via our chairman who received it from Mitchell Smyth in Toronto who even received it from Peter McMullan in Vancouver ... at least it eventually got to us and what we read is that Peter and his wife, Daphne, are planning a visit to Northern Ireland on October 17 to 27 and they are keen to meet up for a cup of coffee and chat about times past with old colleagues. Among those old colleagues would be Malcolm Brodie, who was Peter's Sports Editor and mentor back in 1955/1971. There was also Eddie McIlwaine and Barry White. Hopefully, the people mentioned will see this and will get in touch so that something can be organised.

[Roy Shephard]

Further to the comment from Frances M Forker about Noel McMullan, we received an email:

I remember Noel well - he started in the Armagh Guardian while I was a reporter there. He was a general reporter, so I can't recall anything specific he wrote back then, or when he was in the Belfast Telegraph. In those days bylines were as scarce as hens' teeth!

My memory of him way back in Armagh conjures up a pictue of Noel arriving in to the office from his home in Killylea, on his bicycle, which was hung with rabbits, which he had caught the previous nigh, by means of a high-powered lantern and his lurcher dog.

Later, he was in the Police Reserve Force (not the Police Reserve) in the early days of the troubles, and was involved in the capture of some ruthless IRA men.

Noel was married to a girl called Mullan, whose father was Governor of Crumlin Road prison.

Jim Gray was friendly with Noel and mentioned that he had in later times run an antiques business.

[Edward Sterling]

Jackie Sinnerton - what a pleasure it is to hear from you again. I regularly e-mail Dave Crossen in Brisbane and he has mentioned your name - glowingly. Copyboys is on a sombre note at the moment and I don't wish to be flippant, but please post again.

[Jim Gray]

We received an email from Val and Jim Gray:

Naturally I'm sorry to hear of Noel's plight and Valerie and I have often wondered what became of Noel, Pam and the children. Our son, Darragh, loved to visit them with us when they lived at Templepatrick as their three were great with him.

I can't shed much light on when or where Noel's articles appeared, but I think it must have been when he was working up in Coleraine in latter years. We both began our careers in Armagh, he with Charlie Trimble on the Guardian and me with Billy Greer in the Gazette. Neither of us was known for our "literary talents" in those days!

Noel was also on the old Northern Whig until it closed, but I don't remember ever seeing any of the articles his sister mentions. The fact that he entitled one of them Life on an Irish Farm suggests to me that it might have been written when he was away from Ireland; he did work in Kenya for a few years but I have no idea what he might have written while he was there.

I certainly had no recollection of him writing much in the way of articles while he was with the Belfast Telegraph, so I can only imagine it was when he was with the Chronicle.

I was sorry to hear of the deaths of Ian Hill and Gordon Duffield and was impressed with many of the tributes you carried on Copyboys.

[Malcolm Brodie]

Another email arrived from Malcolm Brodie:

Thanks for note on Peter McMullan. Take it as read we will attempt to organise a reunion for some of his old mates within dates mentioned for his visit to Belfast. Perhaps he could suggest a date so we could plan ahead. On the recommendation of John E Sayers I gave Peter his first sports job in the BT- the most accomplished and authoritative rugby correspondent we ever had.

I was in Moscow covering a match for the BT when he sent me a telex to the AP Bureau where I was working requesting his early release to take up the post in Vancouver Island.

I replied, “Normally the answer from here in the Cold War is niet but, on this occasion, we will say yes!"

A wonderful effervescent character who even brought his dog into the office and let it sleep under the desk!

John I get overcome with nostalgia when I recall those happy family days in the BT when it was acclaimed as one of the finest evening newspapers in the world.

[KB]

You said it, Malcolm. And while we're on the subject of the BT's heyday, let us not forget, now that Alex Higgins has died, that Ronnie Harper played such an instrumental role in charting his progress from the Donegall Road to international fame.

[Chairman]

I am so sorry to hear of Noel McMullan's illness. I have many fond memories of him from the 1960s and 1970s. The first time I met Noel was the same day I met Jim Gray in 1960. Noel was with the Whig in those days and Jim with the Newsletter. I was with the Newtownards Spectator and we all attended the opening of Cyril Lord's new carpet factory in Donaghadee where, in typical Cyril Lord fashion, the champagne flowed like water. Since most of us were unaccustomed to champagne and it came by the crate, an element of 'merry' crept into the morning. All of us underestimated the power of a drink that tasted like lemonade. Noel offered to give myself (and I think Carl Anderson) along with Jim Gray a lift in his car back to Belfast for another reception. Blissfully ignorant of how 'merry' the driver had become we twigged when he knocked the fender off a parked car having misjudged his own parking distance by several feet. At the Belfast reception the doorman wasn't going to let us in and indeed some of us never got in. But hell, we could't have written down speeches anyway. I worked with Noel on the Whig and on the PA's parliamentary team at Westminster as well as the Telegraph. He was a good friend and a great colleague. Like Jim, I have many warm memories of his friendship and hospitality.

[Peter McMullan]

A kind email has reached us from Peter McMullan:
What a great response from MB. If not for your email - the mail is usually my second stop each morning and it's just after 5.30 a.m. here - I would have started my day as usual with Copyboys.

Thanks so much. I will of course, be in touch with Malcolm today and greatly look forward to meeting with him and hopefully some others from way back when we get to Belfast.

I noted the report on Ian Hill's funeral - I only knew him by name and reputation - and the fact that my brother-in-law, Walter Love, was among those in attendance. They moved in the same literary and arts circles and I am sure there will be some stories told when we get together.

Keep up the good work. I am sure I am not alone when I say that Copyboys provides an invaluable link with the past for all your contributors and readers from the wonderful journalistic world of 'ink stained wretches'.

There are not many professions that can boast of such a wealth of characters (at least back then) and stories.

Little did I know what lay in store for me in the years ahead when I turned up from my first day at work as a trainee reporter with the BT on January 2, 1955.

The BT was my life for 16 years and to this day I recall far more of the people I met and worked with there, and the places it took me, than is the case in any of my subsequent employments in Canada between 1971 and 2000. Not sure why that is. Perhaps because it was my first real job.

Working long hours as a student in a Canadian fish packing plant or then for a better hourly rate in a plywood mill, in 1954, doesn't really count. I do know for sure that without the BT, the training and experience it provided and the support of people like Malcolm Brodie and Jack Sayers, I would never have been able to make my way in the world of Communications in Canada, be it in journalism, education, big business and finally professional sport.

I still love the satisfaction that comes with writing, with seeing words fly from keyboard computer to screen - just as they did from clattering manual typewriter keys to carbon backed paper in the old days.

Of late, indeed for a good three years, I have been working away as co-author and ideas man on a fishing book which is just now being printed in China. It's coffee table in format, 192 pages and more than 120,000 words with lots of great colour pictures and original art work and very personal memories of a number of individuals who have and continue to fish for giant steelhead in the Babine river in north central British Columbia.

The title of the book is simply Babine by Pierce Clegg and Peter McMullan with the sub-head A 50-year celebration of a World-Renowned Steelhead and Trout River. You can be sure I will have a copy with me in October.

[Blogmaster]

There is a new photogaph in the album, Journos At Large ... Our knowledge of it is a bit like the image itself: a little fuzzy. It was taken at a Press trip to Scotland, but when and who is in the picture we are not at all sure ... We feel confident that one of the people (on the left) is Stewart Mackay but if you know any of the others, please tell ...

[Ronnie Harper]

From yesterday's Sunday Life:

HIGGY AND I
WERE MATES

Ronnie Harper, former Belfast Telegraph snooker correspondent was a close friend and first agent for Alex Higgins.

EVERYONE will have their own view of Alex but to me he was a genuine friend, an iconic sportsman and as rare a talent as you will find anywhere in the world of sport.

Northern Ireland has produced many great sportsmen and women down through the years but there has never been and never will be someone quite like Higgy.

You didn’t have to be a genius to see the talent he had as he skipped around the tables in the old Jam Pot snooker hall in Sandy Row from an early age and when he asked me to manage him it was a thrill.

We had some great times together and seemed to gel like soul mates. Indeed, he asked me to join him on his journey to the top, but I declined to make the move to England due to family commitments.

But that wasn’t going to be the end of our friendship and I was there for every day – and night – of his first World Championship victory in 1972.

In those days the final was played over a week and every night we would be enjoying ourselves, playing a few frames before he would get up the next day to take on John Spencer, eventually winning the title 37-32.

It was a week I’ll never forget.
His pulsating style shook up the sport and we enjoyed another great night when he took his second title 10 years later with that famous win over Ray Reardon.

Of course, Alex had his wild times but for some reason I could always manage to get through to him more so than any others.
He may have rubbed people up the wrong way at times, but there was always a deep warmth about Alex and I feel very upset that he has passed away.

He made snooker what it is today and how many people can say that about their sport?

[Blogmaster]

Taken from today's Belfast Telegraph:

Alex Higgins obituary: The mercurial
poet laureate of the green baize

ALEX Higgins - The Hurricane that whirled through the sport of snooker has gone.

Higgins, who learned the game as a boy in a club called The Jampot and grew up to be a pin-up hero of women everywhere, was found dead at the weekend. He was only 61 when he died after a long battle with the throat cancer that had ravaged him for years.

In spite of the controversy that always seemed to surround this flawed genius, he is being deeply and sincerely mourned by the masters of his sport who regarded him as a player of exceptional quality.

His fellow Ulsterman Dennis Taylor, with whom he was often in conflict, said: “We will never see a player like Alex again.”

For me, who never potted a black and was only an admiring observer, Higgins was the poet laureate of snooker. Every red from his cue was in perfect rhythm.

At the Hurricane’s peak, winning two world titles in 1972 and 1982, Higgins really was a raging storm around the table, always in a hurry to subdue his opponent, no matter how high his ranking.

But his potential was never really fulfilled, largely because of his own torment and the ill health that dogged him.

The moving pictures of Higgins in tears with wife Lynn, their baby in her arms, after defeating Ray Reardon in the 1982 final went around the globe and made women everywhere weep with him.

Higgins, who used to earn pocket money by keeping the score in games at The Jampot when he was an 11-year-old, turned people on to snooker big time when he won his first world title at the age of 22 and at the expense of celebrated John Spencer in 1972.

Women were captivated by the cheeky good looks of the Belfast urchin who, soon after turning professional, beat the well-loved Jack Rea, an institution in Belfast and beyond, for the Irish Professional Championship. It just happened that Rea had held the title for 19 years and looked unbeatable until the smart, young Higgins appeared at his table.

I first encountered him one Sunday in a city centre club when he dropped in for lunch and was persuaded to have a practice on one of the tables. I was astonished at the dexterity of his cue. And after a friendly conversation I left to write a story about a young man who I stated was bound to end up a modern day sporting legend.

How right I was — Higgins went on to win 24 professional titles down 19 tempestuous years, some of them punctuated with rows and disputes, name calling and family disputes that led to divorces.

Two world titles and some spectacular nights on the table, especially on one epic occasion against his great friend Jimmy White and then in company with White to win a world doubles title, made Alex a household name.

I reckon that the Belfast snooker star was at the pinnacle of his career one night in 1983 when he was up against the great Steve Davis, who at the time appeared invincible.

It definitely looked that way with Higgins trailing 7-0 and appearing to falter. Incredibly, he took a deep breath, smiled at the crowd and went on to leave Steve defeated 16-15.

The trouble, when he was emerging as a superstar, was that Alex wore himself out trying to oblige every promoter who came calling for action and he suffered the consequences as his career went into a downward spiral that has made too many glaring headlines.

In his final years, the struggle against cancer and his attempts to carry on playing — he was due to take part in a veterans’ world championship this November — have been well publicised.

And so have his fall-outs with snooker authority, his rows with fellow professionals and his crumbling personal life.

Through it all, Ulster folk have retained a sneaking regard for their irritating hero and many a prayer was said that he would make a miraculous recovery and show us once again his speed around the table.

It wasn’t to be and the snooker ace who cheered up my dull Sunday morning all those years ago has finally gone to his last resting place.

EDDIE McILWAINE

[KB]

The mystery trip: Third from the left looks like the young Des McCartan and could that be E Sterling jnr beside him? The young fellow with the long hair standing at the bottom of the steps of the bus is like Michael Beattie.

[sm]

Is the little hairy one second from left Malachi O'Doherty?

[KB]

I thought that might be Lulu.

[MyopicMeg]

Third from left certainly looks like Des McCartan. Is Corky on there as well?

[Chairman]

Isn't the one in the middle of the road, Hazel Turkington, former feature writer with the Belfast Telegraph? And the guy on the step could be Father Teresa.

[Blogmaster]

FACTS AND
FIGURES...

We may be slightly confused about the identity of the people in our latest picture, but some things are clearer: so far today we have had more than 211 hits on the blog, which pleases us very much ... it shows that people are coming along to read what we say, and it would even better if they felt moved to join in and leave a comment ...

The good people who run the blog, Typepad.com, also tell us:

*We have had 12,6277 Lifetime Pageviews;

*60.28 average Pageviews each day (as we pointed out, so far today it is 209);

*6,344 Total Comments so far ... so keep commenting.

We thought you might like to know that ...

[KB]

We are an institution - or at least we should be in one. If we keep this up, Facebook will be trying to buy us out. I think we should have a share-holders meeting at once.

[A.McQ.]

I have suggested before that Our Dear And Revered President should have a gin palace on Lough Erne. Could the meeting be held aboard? But what do we do about The Best Chairman We Ever Had? And if Copyboys (and girls) was to become the worldwide phenomenon KB anticipates would The Old Gentleman have to be called The Best ChairPERSON We Ever Had? Perhaps the Board should meet again in a snug in The Crown Liquor Saloon - rather than that milk bar - to take some executive decisions.

[President (Graham McKenzie)]

When I started TheCopyboys five years ago there were only five or six page hits a day. (Doesn't 2005 seem a long time ago now?)

It took a couple of years before TheCopyboys really became known and another two or three to really build up some steam. A fair bit of work went into contacting people, many in far flung places, and obtaining photographs which form the basis of an albums library.

The first contributor was Ian Sanderson, writing from Melbourne, Australia; and the second was our chairman, Billy Simpson.

Due to illness, around the beginning of this year, I asked John Caruth to take over in the engine room as what he calls "Blogmaster" and he has done a great job in adding further members to our core of contributors. Our thanks are due to him.

I like to think that TheCopyboys will endure, both as a way of recording a small piece of local journalistic history and a platform for current news and views on matters media - not to mention just keeping in touch with colleagues.

[Cal McCrystal]

By launching thecopyboys Graham has served us well; in particular by reviving memories that otherwise would - or might - have been lost. My own memory, like Montaigne’s, is “marvellously defective” but I think I agree with the Frenchman that “an excellent memory is, more often than not, coupled with an infirm judgement.” Graham has brought back for many of us memories of our early professional struggles, personal foibles and frailties as well as the nostalgic social eddies that (I like to think) preserved our sanity; he has accomplished all this with firm judgement. And we are all grateful to him.

[KB]

Wonderfully put. Or maybe well said.
Meanwhile, back at the news desk, I commend to everyone the various stories on the outcome of sports journalist Jerome Quinn's claims of unfair dismissal and religious bias at BBCNI. A good read.

[Blogmaster]

RIP ... this week they processed the very last roll of Kodachrome. Here's a tribute of sorts we thought some people might like to read ...
http://www.salon.com/life/feature/2010/07/28/kodachrome/index.html