obituaries


Tim Jones


Born just after the end of the Second World War, Tim Jones was an early pioneer of public sector press and PR and led the NUJ’s Public Relations & Communications Industrial Council as chair and vice-chair for many years. He was a staunch trade unionist and


community activist who could always be relied upon to roll up his sleeves and eagerly get to work on behalf of members. Tim blazed what is now a familiar trail from local newspaper journalism – in Worcester and Oxford – to become the first information officer at Nottingham’s Trent Polytechnic before developing and managing Nottingham City Council’s successful press and PR team from 1989 to 2002. In later years, he settled with his wife, Rachel, in Northumberland and became a stalwart of the NUJ’s Newcastle branch while freelancing. Although diagnosed with heart failure seven


years ago, he rarely missed a branch meeting. Tim represented disabled members on the


union’s Public Relations & Communications Industrial Council. Its current chair Phil Morcom said: “It was a consistent pleasure to be in his company.” As well as his wife, Rachel, and daughters Lucy


and Tamsin, Tim had three grandchildren and one granddog.


Nic Mitchell Bill Batchelor


John Holland


A photographer who worked for the Manchester Evening News (MEN) from 1963 to 1996 has died in hospital in Harwich, Essex. John Holland had developed bone marrow myeloma, a type of cancer, in later life and shortly before he died on 4 September, he was diagnosed with lung cancer. He was 84. John started in a traditional way as a messenger at Kemsley Newspapers in 1948. After doing his national service in the Royal Engineers, he went into Kemsley Studio darkrooms as a junior and was apprenticed as a photo printer. He freelanced as a photographer while doing this before going on the road as a staff photographer with the Evening Chronicle in March 1958. He became deputy picture editor in January 1961. The Evening Chronicle folded in July 1963 and


John was transferred to the MEN, where he remained until taking a redundancy package with three colleagues in April 1996. He was awarded the MBE that same year for


his work in road safety. John and his wife Marie lived for many years in Romiley and later Marple in Cheshire before moving to Harwich where his wife’s family lived. John leaves Marie and their children Douglas and Susan as well as grandchildren and one great-grandchild.


Seamus Kelters


Seamus Kelters, assistant editor of BBC Newsline in Northern Ireland, has died aged 54 from cancer. Seamus was an influential journalist, storyteller and NUJ chapel activist who enjoyed cross-community respect as a public service broadcaster par excellence. With David McKittrick, he was the co-author of


Lost Lives, the critically acclaimed reference book documenting every death directly caused by the Troubles. The book, which covered more than 3,000 people killed in the conflict, took more than 10 years to produce. Few people could match Seamus for his knowledge of Northern Ireland politics. Seamus started working at the BBC in the early 1990s as a broadcast journalist and worked on many programmes, including Spotlight, and Hearts and Minds. He had begun his journalistic career with the


Irish News. He was a skilled investigative journalist and is remembered for his dogged coverage of the wrongful convictions of the Birmingham Six.


Among the mourners at Seamus’ funeral in Belfast were Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams and BBC journalist-turned-nun Martina Purdy. He is survived by his wife Camilla and two sons Brendan and Michael.


24 | theJournalist


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