An editor who worked tirelessly to ensure an island’s native language would not be lost had died, aged 84.

Max Lucas, former editor of the Jersey Evening Post, was also a leading authority on Jersey Norman-French – Jèrriais – and held the revered role of Jurat of the Royal Court, where he used his legal expertise to brief and advise the judges.

He spent his early life on the island before moving to Berkshire with his family at the age of six. He returned to his roots in time to start his first job, which was at the Jersey Savings Bank.

He joined Hampshire Constabulary and then served in the RAF in the war, to discover that he was airsick – to the extent that he was used as a guinea-pig for airsickness treatments – and he eventually had to be grounded. So he joined the Army.

In 1946 he returned to Jersey and, still in uniform, immediately applied to join the staff of the Evening Post as a proof-reader by queuing on the pavement in Charles Street with 30 or 40 other applicants to be interviewed and subjected to a proof-reading test.

He passed with a score of 99 per cent and went on to make his mark at the Evening Post, which changed its name to Jersey Evening Post in the 1970s, and became a sub-editor, then editor, until his retirement from that position in 1975.

Max was appointed a member of the board of W E Guiton and Co in October 1963, became chairman of the board in February 1984, and held the post until his full retirement in 1990 after a career spanning 44 years.

In these roles, as in other areas of his life, Max was conscientious and thorough, a stickler for accuracy and truth. He had an excellent rapport with the staff, and there are still some there today who look back on one who was their steadfast and reliable friend.

In 1977 he was invited to stand for the vacancy on the Bench as Jurat of the Royal Court and was very proud to have been invited to stand, and he enjoyed his 13 years as a Jurat until his mandatory retirement at 72.

His love of Jèrriais had begun in 1955 when he found time to be assistant editor of Les Bulletins de l’Assembliée d’Jèrriais, continuing until 1977 when publication ceased. He was devoted to retaining the last remnants of Jersey’s language and to making them accessible to others something which has been a significant legacy to the Island

Elaine Hanning, of the Jersey Evening Post said: “Max Lucas was a remarkably altruistic man who quietly, thoroughly and without fanfare has made a difference to his beloved Island home which may only be properly appreciated in future years by those who will cherish Jersey’s roots, language and traditions in a way that many in previous generations have not.”

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