Gordon Martin: They all loved his accent

Sorry, belatedly, to hear of Gordon Martin’s death, though I knew he’d been in bad shape for some time. Hard to recall it's half a century since we shared good times in northern Europe. He was Reuters' man in Oslo, myself in Copenhagen. As fellow Lancastrians we got on well and were both in the throes of love. I was pursuing a young lady from Sweden, he a Dane, called Bente, if I remember rightly. Shortly afterwards he quit Reuters for the BBC, and would thereafter turn up from time to time at different places. I provided him with an office in Cairo. Latterly we’d meet again in Geneva, where we were both reporting the UN, he for the BBC and Vatican Radio. We exchanged calls or visits thereafter, but the last time I rang his Geneva flat he wasn’t in best shape. He was much liked by fellow correspondents at the UN’s European HQ. They all loved his accent. He carried on using an old-fashioned typewriter to the end. Farewell, Gordon. ■