Jim Dow, journalist

Published on Sunday 7 March 2010 21:34

Born: 11 March, 1938, in Edinburgh. Died: 4 March, 2010, in Edinburgh, aged 71.

JIM Dow was a talented and dedicated journalist who loved his profession. Even in advancing years, he had no intention of retiring and when it became apparent that he was suffering from a serious illness, he was determined to carry on and never missed a deadline.

His weekly commercial property column for The Scotsman appeared just a day before his health deteriorated further and he was admitted to the Marie Curie Hospice in Edinburgh. Sadly, he died a few days later – just a week before he would have been 72.

His impressive journalistic career spanned more than half a century. Over 20 of those years were spent working for The Scotsman where he was first a reporter and then night news editor before becoming supplements editor.

In 1981, he was appointed business editor, a post he held for eight years prior to taking up public relations and freelance work, specialising in business journalism in which he had built up considerable expertise and great respect within the business community.

He wrote two books, one on his experiences in Africa (African Dow) and the second on the Scottish islands: Islands Galore. Two years ago, he was honoured with life membership of the National Union of Journalists.

Despite a hectic work schedule, Jim was above all a family man. He was devoted to his wife Lorna, to his daughter Karen and to his grand-daughters Natasha and Lindsay. His family came first, work second.

Born in Edinburgh, he went to primary school in the city. At the age of 12 he was to take a step that would have a profound influence on his life. His father's career as a telephone engineer took the family to Dar es Salaam in the then Tanganyika.

He once recalled that in Edinburgh his school bus journey took 20 minutes. To get to school in Nairobi, he left Dar es Salaam on the Monday by train and bus and arrived in Nairobi on Thursday – "quite a trip for a 12-year-old".

One of his contemporaries at the Prince of Wales boarding school was a boy who was to become leader of the Liberal Party and the first Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament – David Steel – now Lord Steel of Aikwood. During this period, the young James Dow was to experience the intense political turmoil that was building up in Africa. A State of Emergency was declared as the Mau Mau terrorist organisation pressed its claim for an independent Kenya.

When it was time to leave school, Jim managed to fulfil his ambition to become a journalist. In 1956, he was recruited by the Tanganyika Standard, an English language newspaper.

Though this proved an excellent training ground, he was advised that the best way of furthering his journalistic career was to return to the UK. Back in Scotland, he was appointed a reporter on the Galloway Gazette in Newton Stewart. Then he moved to the Fifeshire Advertiser where he worked for four years. During this period he was to meet his beloved wife-to-be, Lorna Murray.

The call of Africa, meanwhile, was proving to be an irresistible force – "the dust of Africa was still on my feet" he told friends – so he decided to return to further his career. He reluctantly bade a fond farewell to Lorna. Three months after sailing to Kenya, however, he bought Lorna a single fare from Edinburgh to Nairobi and sent her a bouquet with the instructions: "Fly out in August and marry me." He was clearly a romantic at heart.

So the couple were married in Nairobi at the church where Steel's father had been minister. As Jim remarks in his book, Africa was to get another convert as Lorna quickly adapted to life there.

By this time, he was working for the East African Standard. Initially based in Nairobi, he later took up a post of district reporter to cover the Rift Valley.

This was to mark the start of a fascinating period in which he was to meet some of the country's top politicians. He got to know most of them, including Julius Nyerere, Tom Mboya, the maverick Oginga Odinga, Jomo Kenyatta and Joshua Nkomo.

A fluent speaker of Swahili, Jim had the remarkable talent of being able to translate the speeches of top politicians and convert the words into shorthand.

In an article in The Scotsman to mark the publication of African Dow , Jim graphically described his experiences: "In four years on the East African Standard I covered political rallies up and down the country – murder trials (capital punishment was the sentence), elephants rampaging, hippos street-walking and even witch doctors influencing football teams."

The publisher of the book aptly described the work as a "deeply intimate story of Kenya's transition to a free nation, from the perspective of one man who can never forget his experience in Africa".

After four years in an increasingly turbulent country – where censorship and threats of deportation for journalists loomed large – and now with a young daughter, Jim decided that if he wanted to settle down into a secure journalistic job and a safe family life, then it was time to return to the UK.

He took up a newspaper post in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, before being appointed to The Scotsman in Edinburgh. His 23 years with the paper saw him become one of Scotland's best-known journalists, the various posts he held there eventually leading to his appointment as business editor in 1981.

In 1989, he left to join Moorgate, a public relations company before working for Financial Marketing Scotland. He was then involved in the setting up of a new communications firm, Lacuna, in which he was latterly still active as chairman.

More recently, Jim was co-founder of a commercial property website, ComProp Scotland. While the online newspaper generated considerable interest and support, it was affected by the economic downturn and it was decided to close the site temporarily so that it could be redesigned. It was due to be relaunched soon.

Though giving up some of his full-time responsibilities in recent years, he continued his public relations work and in freelance journalism for a wide variety of outlets, including contributing his property column in The Scotsman.

As a friend remarked, Jim could turn his hand to any topic and was a "marvellously clear and readable writer and with a ready sense of humour that worked on the page as well as in conversation". He had kept a diary since 1949 , updating it daily without fail right up to the present time.

Journalism was not just work to Jim, it was in his blood; it was a hobby and he generally found it fun. Apart from football and music he did not have many other leisure interests. But it was abundantly clear to Jim's friends that Lorna and his family were by far his top priority. That was aided by the fact that he did much of his work from home.

He had a happy and immensely rewarding life and gave much pleasure to others. Hopefully, this may help to provide some comfort to Lorna, Karen, son-in-law John, Natasha and Lindsay.

In accordance with his wishes, the funeral is private.