Manfred Pagel - Hard shell, soft centre?

I owe my career to Manfred. In 1974 I was stewing in the nether reaches of the London World Desk, re-subbing general news copy for a World Bank feed. One day Manfred, who had recently been made RES editor, showed up and asked me to lunch at his favourite carvery, Simpsons-in-the-Strand.

Some days later, over the roast beef, he said he knew I was a German speaker and had done a year in RES before transferring to general news. Were I willing to transfer back, he had me in mind for an econ correspondent's job. Hopefully, any newcomer to Reuters accepts that any job reporting overseas is better than any down-table desking job in London. And so it was that in summer 1975 I reported to John Bartram in Frankfurt. Careerwise I never looked back.

As soon as John hightailed it to a Brussels posting, I found out how closely Manfred kept an eye on Frankfurt. As a German who had worked for Reuters in Bonn he had a peerless grip on all aspects of the Germany news file. Phone calls from him to discuss coverage were not unknown. He also liked to visit Frankfurt on business and then treat the staff (just three of us in those days) to its famous cider joints or Äppelwoiwirtschaften across the River Main in Sachsenhausen. Drinking cider there was de rigueur; likewise ordering the notorious local snack Handkäse mit Musik, a tangy cheese reputedly accompanied later by music, aka flatulence. Such evenings were always such great fun.

However, one of Manfred's Frankfurt visits landed me in hot water with our partner economic news agency VWD. At that time Reuters had a news exchange deal with VWD, meaning each side could lift each other's copy without crediting it. In 1976 VWD inaugurated its new headquarters in Eschborn outside Frankfurt, with Federal Economics Minister Hans Friderichs as guest of honour at the party. Manfred and I were both invited. During the evening Manfred sidled up and said "You are going to interview Friderichs, aren't you?" His interrogative carried the full force of an imperative. So, I duly buttoned the minister for some blandish comments on economic prospects. I found a vacant VWD telephone and rang through half a dozen paras to the London financial desk. Imagine my surprise the following morning when I saw that VWD had picked up my story and run it as their own. Unbeknown ever to Manfred I was later summoned to meet a leading VWD executive. He blasted me and Reuters for breaking inter-agency protocol by daring to scoop the minister at VWD's own private function. I had acted in an "unkollegial" manner, i.e. being non-collegiate and thereby disrespectful.

Luckily, after much grovelling, the incident blew over within weeks, although for a time relations were more than strained. Manfred was of course absolutely right to prod me into tackling Friderichs. No Reuter reporter should ever duck the chance to get a story, especially from a named authoritative source. The niceties of agency politics and protocols can safely be ignored.

Subsequently I was assigned as the first economic correspondent to the Nordic countries based in Stockholm. Luckily for me neither Manfred nor anyone else in London knew much about the region in those days. Editorial pressure from London was therefore absent. All contact with Manfred was cordial and sociable. In 1980, after he had been put in overall charge of both economic and general news, he decided to tour Scandinavia, primarily to establish good personal relationships with the leaders of our partner national news agencies. During his Stockholm stopover he invited me and my general news colleague Lloyd Timberlake to dinner with our wives. We chose a fine vaulted cellar restaurant in the Old Town and introduced him to the Swedish cuisine which every visitor liked -  gravlax with dill and mustard source, reindeer fillet, and warm cloudberries with ice cream. It was a tremendously enjoyable evening, with Manfred impressing our spouses with charm and bonhomie. Whenever I met him in later years - either at Reuters or post-retirement - he always asked about Scandinavia.

At work Manfred liked his public persona to appear firm, stern and somewhat uncompromising. I'm so pleased I knew his softer side away from the cares of the office. Thank you, Manfred, for giving me such a rewarding career. ■