Do you have an appointment?

Terry Williams loved to cover sports, especially cycling. He and I were in the Reuters team assigned to the 1980 Moscow Olympics. When news reached us that Reuter journalists in the US had decided to go on strike, the team met to discuss whether to join them in sympathy. Loath to miss reporting the Games, Terry questioned the wisdom of a strike but was told he might never be able to work on Fleet Street again. 

During his time in the Caribbean he covered the grisly 1978 Jonestown massacre in Guyana when members of a US-based cult led by Jim Jones committed mass suicide. More than 900 people died, all but two from apparent cyanide poisoning.

On the World Desk in London Terry was a bright spark. When two colleagues tried to call his attention at the same time, he asked: “Do you have an appointment?” ■