John Morrison: steady and unflappable

John's sharp and lucid reporting from Moscow to Paris, from The Hague to Harare was one of the joys of the Reuter file during the 1970s and 1980s. He was a graduate of the Sidney Weiland school of journalism, with his innate skills honed during three years working with the great master in Vienna.

John cut his teeth in one-man reporting with his marathon coverage of the 10-day train hijacking in the Netherlands in 1975 - during which two hostages and the train driver were murdered by Moluccans demanding that the Netherlands make Indonesia grant their home region independence.

With colleagues, he was a steady and unflappable presence in both Moscow and Paris bureaux, keeping up spirits with his dry humour. After he left Reuters he launched a successful writing career, producing the first solid English-language biography of Boris Yeltsin in the early 1990s and more recently writing two blogs for The Guardian, one on cycling and the other on the London theatre. Sincere condolences to Penny, his wife, and their two sons. ■