Peter Mosley: first-class trainer and mentor

Other colleagues who worked more closely with Peter in editorial can testify to his excellence as a reporter, editor and manager. What I can add, from my time running the Reuters Foundation, is my admiration for him as a first-class trainer and mentor to our journalism students from all over the world.

Peter threw himself into training for the Foundation after he retired from Reuters. He ran courses in London and many other centres. He could turn his hand to all sectors of journalism, but he specialised in the environment - climate change before it became fashionable - and medicine. 

He was a formidable presence in the classroom. He had the authority of having done it all himself and the ability to pass on his skills with clarity and good humour. Outside classes, he was unstinting in offering professional advice to younger journalists. He also took seriously the hard graft of preparing the teaching material. He applied skill and imagination to the task of creating scenarios for training exercises.  

Does anyone remember the Mud Otter?

This was a legendary creature devised by Peter and the great George Short to illustrate different news stories. An otter with its own Latin name (Lutra lutralensis dalmeny) and case history, it was an endangered species, prized by the pharmaceutical companies because of the rare medical qualities of its liver. Eccentric millionaire gourmets were also tracking the only known living specimen for gastronomic purposes: an illegal last supper. 

The story made for lively training exercises, covering science, politics, animal welfare and human interest, with a criminal twist. It was front-page news - and great fun.

There may well be a good many mid-career journalists around the world who have fond memories of the Mud Otter, whose stuffed effigy lived in a cage in the Reuters Foundation training room. (He kept the one in the photo on his desk at home.) A quirky tribute that would no doubt have amused Peter, a man of many talents with a strong sense of humour. He will be greatly missed. ■