Jim ended up in journalism almost by chance

Late in World War Two, Jim when he came of military age volunteered for pilot training in the Fleet Air Arm as an option to being drafted into the army. His time as a pilot was brief. He crash landed on his first solo flight, suffering serious injuries. It was then also discovered he was colour-blind, and that ended his aviation career. Although he recovered and was indeed drafted into the army, he received a disability pension for the crash injuries for the rest of his life.

He ended up in journalism almost by chance. He had graduated from Edinburgh University with a Bachelor’s degree in English and a Master’s degree in philosophy. In 1957 he had accepted a position as head of English at Workington Polytechnic. Just before leaving Edinburgh, he related, he was walking past the main entrance of The Scotsman newspaper when a journalistic friend emerged.

The friend urged him to meet Alastair Dunnett, the Scotsman editor. Jim went in, saw Dunnett and was immediately hired.

He was obliged to go to Workington, however, to resign from his new post there just when the Sellafield nuclear explosion and fire in southwest Cumbria became world news. The Scotsman phoned him and told him to get on the job despite not yet being on staff. The Scotsman was owned by the Canadian Roy Thomson who had recently also bought The Times newspaper. Jim put his local knowledge and contacts in Cumbria to good use and got splash play. He said he was possibly the only journalist to have won daily bylines in both The Times and The Scotsman while still a stringer. ■