Allan Barker a grafter

Allan was a grafter. In his early 1970s London Bureau there was no such thing as a quiet day, he generated momentum and urgency. He would eventually go home about 19:00, but would be on the phone after the evening news with instructions on how to tweak the day's main stories. He could be gruff and strident, but not political, a decent man. 

His catch-phrase has been mentioned but it was another verbal quirk which amused me. After tearing some unfortunate's copy to shreds at high volume he would add in a softer, conciliatory tone: "If you don't mind me saying so."

Twenty years later we were both on the London Business Unit and Allan's appetite for the news was undiminished. He was in hospital with heart trouble and, sounding as if he had just come out of the anaesthetic, phoned the desk: "Hello Michael, it's Allan, what's the dollar doing today?"

RIP Allan. ■