Jim Flannery, one of the kindest and funniest of his generation

Jim was among the kindest and funniest of his generation, taking the ethics and history of Reuters seriously, but rejecting any pomposity or hierarchy.

His printer's hats were legendary, and it is a source of great regret that I never got him to show me how to make one. He favoured those made from the Financial Times, especially when working on "econ" stories.

He was also a great swimmer for exercise and would often dry his Speedo budgie smuggler swimsuits on the back of the very large Coyote screens on the world desk.

He had an uncanny ability to take micro-naps, putting his feet up beside the keyboard and leaning back-- usually with the paper hat on--and taking a snooze, somehow leaping into action the moment an alert or story demanding his touch arrived in the basket.

Jim and I covered the first free elections in South Africa together. Jim became close with Nelson Mandela's doctor, and we spent many hours together in a pop-up shebeen which the doctor had created in a mall in the wealthy suburb where we were staying, to bring a little of Soweto to town. The live South African jazz was amazing and Jim and I cut the rug with the locals.

For many years after leaving Reuters, and I guess when he had retired, we'd see each other in Clerkenwell or Lamb's Conduit Street or near his regular cafe in Bloomsbury. His resting face seemed to be a smile. ■