Obituary - Chris Follett- long term stringer with expert knowledge of Denmark

Chris Follett, who worked as a freelance correspondent for Reuters in Denmark for more than 20 years, died last month at his home in London, aged 84.

Chris’s foreign language ability, writing skills and authoritative knowledge of Denmark first claimed the attention of Reuters in 1979 when he was writing and presenting the live News in English morning slot at the national broadcaster Danmarks Radio.

As a recognised expert on the Scandinavian country, his other strings included The Times and The Sunday Times in London, updates on Danish politics to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, and travel, archaeological and trade publications.

Ever alive to offbeat stories, Chris once won a Reuters byline in The Independent for a report in which the Finnish Father Christmas refused to recognise Greenland as his home. Nobody who knew him could forget his irrepressible bonhomie punctuated by outbursts of loud laughter, and his deep love of classical music.

When Colin Narbrough left Copenhagen in 1979 for a staff job in London, he was replaced by Follett to cover general news and Sten Stovall for the growing financial file. After Stovall also moved to Reuters in London in 1983, Chris provided key support to the first international staffer in Copenhagen, Peter Gumbel. Peter and his successors came to rely on Follett as a dependable anchor in the bureau.

Chris later grappled, often happily, with the demands of financial market reports. After 1995 he helped Reuters Financial Television news editor Colin Mooney with Scandinavian coverage.

Chris was instrumental in helping Nordic Chief Correspondent Tony Austin recruit and set up the Reuters Danish language service in 1992.

After divorce from his second wife, Chris left Copenhagen for London in 2007 but kept alive his friendships in Denmark. Members of the Foreign Press Association there remember him as a kind and fun colleague.

In London he gave free rein to his passion for classical music, particularly that of Berlioz. He was the house journalist for The Berlioz Society in Britain, and he made an annual pilgrimage to Grenoble to work on the composer’s archives.

Fluent in French, he shared a house for several years in the Languedoc, where villagers praised his wit and erudition.

He travelled extensively in Europe and once delighted fellow passengers on a December cruise in the Mediterranean by shouting: “It’s Turkey for Christmas!” when the ship came in sight of land.

 But his travel was curtailed by an accident two years ago that left him unsteady on his feet.  

Chris left no family and bequeathed his estate to The London Symphony Orchestra, of which he was a keen and hands-on patron.

His funeral takes place at Golders Green Crematorium on Wednesday February 11 at 1pm. A wake luncheon is planned in Hampstead near his home. Anyone wishing to attend should please contact his friend and executor helen.petchey@ntlworld.com

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