Cy Fox: Such a nice guy

One of the worst things about working for an international organisation like Reuters is that it comes to an end. You finally lose all contact with friends and colleagues once you’ve left the firm. There are surely many like myself who know the situation.

Cy Fox was a marvellous communicator and entertaining friend, with a great sense of humour, but he never (like me again) never came to terms with the new technology. After grappling with just one problem too many, Cy just upped and quit.

There were times when he would fly in from North America, but his visits sadly were few and far between. He attracted good humour wherever he was. I remember we shared one such occasion at a nice place near the Edgware Road, and he was in sparkling form. After addressing some subject or other, he suddenly stood up and made as if to attack me, saying just why. He took his coat off and draped it over a chair. It didn’t worry me too much as he stood up as if in a rage, I’d seen it all before.

The waiter stepped in. “No fighting here, gents” said the manager, who might have known it was just a joke.

“Please, gentlemen,” pleaded the waiter, and we all just laughed.

Then there was one night in one of the Sussex towns, where Cy was scheduled to lecture on one of his special subjects, painter Wyndham Lewis. We all sat quietly in our seats at the end of it, but Cy brought proceedings to a dramatic close by shouting “Blast” over our heads. Everyone laughed. It was just one of those evenings. And Cy was such a nice guy. ■