Allan Barker
Clare McDermott
Thursday 07 July 2011
Clare McDermott was not only a fine administrator in his many years as sports editor but he covered most sports whenever he got the chance. It was a long time ago but one of his most memorable efforts was at ringside in Lewiston, Maine, on May 25, 1965 for the rematch between Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston.
It ended in a first-round knockout after a short, sharp right hand punch from Ali suddenly dropped Liston to the canvas. Few of those at ringside saw the punch and most of the journalists doubted it was enough to floor the hulking Liston, who stayed down for more than 10 seconds, then rolled on his back after a feeble attempt to get to his feet. Ali was pictured standing over Liston daring him to rise, one of the great sports photos of all time.
Clare was a latecomer to our boxing fraternity in New York in the first half of the 1960s. Ronnie Batchelor covered the early Floyd Patterson championship fights with his inimitable colourful phrasing but was then posted elsewhere and I got the job as ringside reporter in 1963, covering the youthful Cassius Clay's early fights, then Liston's two minute demolition of Patterson in Las Vegas in July 1963 and later Clay's comprehensive surprise defeat of Liston in Miami in February 1964. The first of those was an easy job, shouting the result and then dictating the story down the phone to a deskman in our New York headquarters.
The Miami fight was much tougher to cover, with the Reuters phone outlet four rows back from ringside, so the US agencies and BBC TV were much closer to the unfolding drama. Liston wouldn’t come out for the seventh round claiming a shoulder injury and was later taken to hospital without explaining himself to the world press who I think numbered only 50 (of which 49 including me had tipped Liston to win).
I moved to London before the Maine rematch, which produced such raw and chaotic drama in less than one round. Even to this day the boxing experts at The Ring magazine have doubts about Liston’s character and his links to the Mafia. There's still speculation whether he threw both the Miami and Lewiston fights. ESPN has the films of the fights in that era, which it shows occasionally on cable TV. Worth watching if you get the chance. Otherwise read David Remnicks’ great book King of the World (Random House).
Before I retired from Reuters in 1995, I asked the company library to dig out our coverage of those old fights. They only came up with Clare's wrap on the Lewiston affair. I sent it on to him. My own effort on the Miami battle hasn't survived apparently, probably just as well.
Allan Barker
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It ended in a first-round knockout after a short, sharp right hand punch from Ali suddenly dropped Liston to the canvas. Few of those at ringside saw the punch and most of the journalists doubted it was enough to floor the hulking Liston, who stayed down for more than 10 seconds, then rolled on his back after a feeble attempt to get to his feet. Ali was pictured standing over Liston daring him to rise, one of the great sports photos of all time.
Clare was a latecomer to our boxing fraternity in New York in the first half of the 1960s. Ronnie Batchelor covered the early Floyd Patterson championship fights with his inimitable colourful phrasing but was then posted elsewhere and I got the job as ringside reporter in 1963, covering the youthful Cassius Clay's early fights, then Liston's two minute demolition of Patterson in Las Vegas in July 1963 and later Clay's comprehensive surprise defeat of Liston in Miami in February 1964. The first of those was an easy job, shouting the result and then dictating the story down the phone to a deskman in our New York headquarters.
The Miami fight was much tougher to cover, with the Reuters phone outlet four rows back from ringside, so the US agencies and BBC TV were much closer to the unfolding drama. Liston wouldn’t come out for the seventh round claiming a shoulder injury and was later taken to hospital without explaining himself to the world press who I think numbered only 50 (of which 49 including me had tipped Liston to win).
I moved to London before the Maine rematch, which produced such raw and chaotic drama in less than one round. Even to this day the boxing experts at The Ring magazine have doubts about Liston’s character and his links to the Mafia. There's still speculation whether he threw both the Miami and Lewiston fights. ESPN has the films of the fights in that era, which it shows occasionally on cable TV. Worth watching if you get the chance. Otherwise read David Remnicks’ great book King of the World (Random House).
Before I retired from Reuters in 1995, I asked the company library to dig out our coverage of those old fights. They only came up with Clare's wrap on the Lewiston affair. I sent it on to him. My own effort on the Miami battle hasn't survived apparently, probably just as well.
Allan Barker
vbnbnbn
David Mathew
Thursday 02 October 2008
Allan Barker rightly observes that Dave had an orderly mind. I fondly remember him settling into the evening slot as World Desk filing editor some 30 years ago. One of his first moves would be to check the queue on the slow East Africa wire. (Remember queues?) He would grab the long ribbon of paper, point to the bottom of the list, frown, and exclaim: “Look at this! Forty-seven stories on Eastaf! Some of this stuff won’t get to subscribers before next Christmas!” He was one of the titans and will be sorely missed.
Graham Colville
Graham Colville
David Mathew
Monday 22 September 2008
David Mathew was a good friend and among the very top tier of filing editors in Reuters. Even in retirement in Sarasota, Florida, he implacably tracked factual and grammatical errors in the local newspapers and TV. (Allan Barker summed up his abilities admirably, and I fully agree with Colin McIntyre on what David would have thought about today’s “karaoke filing”.)
David’s memory was unbelievable. We vividly remember him playing trivia (the Canadian version) when he was on a desk assignment in New York – and, of course, he knew all the answers, no matter how obscure.
I, for one, will miss our frequent phone and email exchanges, and occasional dinners, critiquing news reports and the increasing disregard of the need for strong and impartial reporting and editing.
His death was a real shock to us. My wife Barbara and I spent a couple of days with David and Hilda at their Palm Beach holiday retreat a few weeks ago and we had talked and exchanged emails since – the last occasion just a couple of days before he died.
He was in good spirits and there was no indication of any problems. His biggest concern was always and overwhelmingly Hilda’s health.
Friends and colleagues have paid wonderful tribute to David, and I echo their sentiments. We’ll miss him.
Brian Bain
David’s memory was unbelievable. We vividly remember him playing trivia (the Canadian version) when he was on a desk assignment in New York – and, of course, he knew all the answers, no matter how obscure.
I, for one, will miss our frequent phone and email exchanges, and occasional dinners, critiquing news reports and the increasing disregard of the need for strong and impartial reporting and editing.
His death was a real shock to us. My wife Barbara and I spent a couple of days with David and Hilda at their Palm Beach holiday retreat a few weeks ago and we had talked and exchanged emails since – the last occasion just a couple of days before he died.
He was in good spirits and there was no indication of any problems. His biggest concern was always and overwhelmingly Hilda’s health.
Friends and colleagues have paid wonderful tribute to David, and I echo their sentiments. We’ll miss him.
Brian Bain
David Mathew
Sunday 21 September 2008
Apart from Dave Mathew’s admirable reporting and editing skills, so well detailed by Al Barker (above), another aspect of DM’s larger-than-life personality was his broad sense of humour and insatiable appetite for offbeat stories, tales of the bizarre, human quirkiness jokes (good and bad), groaners, word-play twisters, comic pictures and videos.
Over the last 15 years or so, since we both stopped working for Reuters, Dave had been the Betts family’s major wholesale supplier of comic e-mails, and I know he kept many other former colleagues and their families amused as well. He and I also exchanged a lot of grumpy messages about slopping writing, contorted sentences, errors in grammar or punctuation and so forth. It is hard to believe he will no longer be making deliveries to our inbox. We shall miss him badly.
Dave Betts
Over the last 15 years or so, since we both stopped working for Reuters, Dave had been the Betts family’s major wholesale supplier of comic e-mails, and I know he kept many other former colleagues and their families amused as well. He and I also exchanged a lot of grumpy messages about slopping writing, contorted sentences, errors in grammar or punctuation and so forth. It is hard to believe he will no longer be making deliveries to our inbox. We shall miss him badly.
Dave Betts
David Mathew
Saturday 20 September 2008
“Big Dave” Mathew was a highly accomplished Australian journalist who mastered a variety of reporting and editing jobs in a long career.
Because he was a quiet, unassuming type he may not have got the accolades and recognition he deserved. But those who worked closely with him knew his worth and valued him highly.
I first knew him in the late 1950s and early 1960s when he was one of four reporters in the general news team in Washington led by the legendary Pat Heffernan. In such a small reporting group everyone had to pull their weight and Dave did so, although most of the overseas assignments with the president usually went to Pat or his able deputy Ralph Harris. Dave probably still had a corporate connection at that time with AAP, a Reuters shareholder, and in 1962 or 63 he left Washington to return to his home town of Melbourne to be AAP’s diplomatic correspondent, concentrating on ANZUS links at a time when Kennedyites worried about falling dominoes in South East Asia. But Oz was too small to contain him for more than a few years.
Dave returned to the U.S. capital and Reuters in about 1968 and I can vouch for his excellent work when I had an editing job there in 1969-71. He covered press conferences, kept the bureau file running through weekends when he was often the lone White House man on duty, and could churn out news analyses speedily on any subject. I remember one Saturday during the Nixon presidency when Vietnam was the raging issue and Dickie decided to hold a press conference at short notice. It ran to 20 questions in half an hour. Dave covered it alone for Reuters and didn’t rely much if anything on the transcript that came out several hours later. I got hit with the same problem with LBJ while he was visiting New York a few years earlier and found it an absolute nightmare but Dave had good shorthand and an orderly mind and sailed through with his usual aplomb.
Dave decided to move on in 1971 and transferred to London where he and his family set up home at Epsom, near the famous racecourse and close to Tattenham Corner - but the view of the horses was wasted on him as he had little interest. Dave did sterling work for several years as senior sub (night editor) in the London Bureau, fielding a lot of difficult stories. LB had special pressures in those days with staff thin on the ground at night and the Fleet Street nationals breaking a lot of scandal stories about Harold Wilson, Ted Heath, Lord Lambton, Marcia Williams et al. After a few years Dave moved to the World Desk where he became a strong filer and master of the routing codes, knowing exactly where to send stories around the world. He always had a great eye for incongruous leads - the latter talent he continued in retirement, keeping fellow retirees abreast of the many bad leads he came across in his wide readings of the international press.
In retirement Dave settled in Sarasota, a very attractive part of Florida where he did some offshore fishing in his boat that he often moored at the bottom of his garden. He and Hilda also took a liking to cruising in ocean liner, usually in Pacific and Asian waters.
Allan Barker
Because he was a quiet, unassuming type he may not have got the accolades and recognition he deserved. But those who worked closely with him knew his worth and valued him highly.
I first knew him in the late 1950s and early 1960s when he was one of four reporters in the general news team in Washington led by the legendary Pat Heffernan. In such a small reporting group everyone had to pull their weight and Dave did so, although most of the overseas assignments with the president usually went to Pat or his able deputy Ralph Harris. Dave probably still had a corporate connection at that time with AAP, a Reuters shareholder, and in 1962 or 63 he left Washington to return to his home town of Melbourne to be AAP’s diplomatic correspondent, concentrating on ANZUS links at a time when Kennedyites worried about falling dominoes in South East Asia. But Oz was too small to contain him for more than a few years.
Dave returned to the U.S. capital and Reuters in about 1968 and I can vouch for his excellent work when I had an editing job there in 1969-71. He covered press conferences, kept the bureau file running through weekends when he was often the lone White House man on duty, and could churn out news analyses speedily on any subject. I remember one Saturday during the Nixon presidency when Vietnam was the raging issue and Dickie decided to hold a press conference at short notice. It ran to 20 questions in half an hour. Dave covered it alone for Reuters and didn’t rely much if anything on the transcript that came out several hours later. I got hit with the same problem with LBJ while he was visiting New York a few years earlier and found it an absolute nightmare but Dave had good shorthand and an orderly mind and sailed through with his usual aplomb.
Dave decided to move on in 1971 and transferred to London where he and his family set up home at Epsom, near the famous racecourse and close to Tattenham Corner - but the view of the horses was wasted on him as he had little interest. Dave did sterling work for several years as senior sub (night editor) in the London Bureau, fielding a lot of difficult stories. LB had special pressures in those days with staff thin on the ground at night and the Fleet Street nationals breaking a lot of scandal stories about Harold Wilson, Ted Heath, Lord Lambton, Marcia Williams et al. After a few years Dave moved to the World Desk where he became a strong filer and master of the routing codes, knowing exactly where to send stories around the world. He always had a great eye for incongruous leads - the latter talent he continued in retirement, keeping fellow retirees abreast of the many bad leads he came across in his wide readings of the international press.
In retirement Dave settled in Sarasota, a very attractive part of Florida where he did some offshore fishing in his boat that he often moored at the bottom of his garden. He and Hilda also took a liking to cruising in ocean liner, usually in Pacific and Asian waters.
Allan Barker
