Manfred Pagel - A meticulous editor

My first encounter with Manfred was dispiriting. Just after my first bylined story had appeared on the econ wire in 1974, he emerged swiftly from his office and I waited for lavish praise. "Your byline is Thomas and not Tom,” was literally all he said.

But renamed, I enjoyed his unfailing support from then on. I remain profoundly grateful to Manfred and Mike Cooling for despatching me to New York and a long international career, just 18 months after leaving the subbing desk on a Scottish newspaper. 

He was a terrific, meticulous editor whose standards I admired and with whom over the years I developed a warm and constructive relationship.

 My deepest sympathies are with his family. ■