Maurice's biggest regret

It was a shock to hear that Maurice Quaintance had passed away. We had a long chat just a few weeks ago when we both attended a Reuter Society meeting to hear former Reuters correspondent Peter Humphrey speak about his 23-month imprisonment in China.

Maurice exuded enthusiasm in whatever he did. Over the years we exchanged Christmas cards and he never failed to mention that he was still playing tennis although he had to be more careful because of occasional seizures that his doctor could not explain.

We first met on the World Desk in the 1960s. He rose rapidly to become editorial staff manager. After he left Reuters in 1980, he told me: “My biggest regret was leaving journalism to join management. Don’t do it.” ■