George Short

Has anyone else read Stone’s Fall by Iain Pears?

Iain was a correspondent for Reuters from 1982 to 1990, working in Italy, France and London, before he went to Yale University to complete his book on eighteenth-century British art, The Discovery of Painting. He has published a range of fiction works, including the bestseller An Instance of the Fingerpost.

In Stone’s Fall, a historical mystery novel, an early character seems to have been closely inspired by our very own George Short. Here is an excerpt:

“It was George Short who replied, an old man who was the very definition of a hack. He could turn his hand to anything, and was a better reporter blind drunk than any of his fellows - including me - sober. Give him some information and he would write it up, and if you didn’t give him some information, he would make it up so perfectly the result was better than the truth. Which is, in fact, another rule of journalism. Fiction is generally better than reality, is usually more trustworthy, and always more believable.

“George, who dressed so appallingly that he was once arrested for vagrancy, put down his pint - his fourth that morning, and it was only ten o’clock - and wiped his stubbly chin. Like the aristocracy, you can tell a reporter’s status by his clothes and manners. The worse they are, the higher up they are, as only the lowly have to make a good impression. George had to impress no-one. Everyone knew him, from judges down to the criminals themselves, and all called him George, and most would stand him a drink…”

Are there any other examples of Reuters characters appearing in print, in the books of authors who worked for Reuters or otherwise?

PHOTO: George Short impersonating dead sheep at Mrs Moon’s, a favourite Fleet Street haunt. ■