The shame of it: my first 'brownie' from Dave Betts

I worked for David in London and Oslo. I was scared stiff of him in London in the early 1980s, especially when I opened my first "Brownie" from him. I remember it to this day. Mitterrand has 2 "r"s not one! The shame of it. I was part of a large group - Malcolm Davidson, Ruth Pitchford, Clare Fallon, Paul Holmes, Doug Hamilton etc - that provided the Horsemen with plenty of new victims, but it was done in our best interests. A few years later, David and Pat pitched up in Oslo (I suspect for some relief after the hairy Beirut years) as country manager. I'm not sure the commercial side of Reuters interested him too much. He would spend a good deal of time in editorial and was an invaluable sounding board for a correspondent on his first posting. When I left Norway, Dave organised my farewell drinks. Just guess how much a Jeroboam of Taittinger must have cost in Norway in those days! ■