A former journalist who landed his first job after turning up to a newspaper office wearing a woolly hat and no socks or tie has died at the age of 76.
John Vivian, described as a ‘living legend’, spent the duration of his journalism career at the Surrey Comet after starting there in 1966 and remaining there for 26 years as chief sub-editor and later as assistant editor.
He left in 1993 after its takeover by Reed Elsevier and joined the Surrey Herald. He later moved to the Informer Newspaper group in Hounslow, where he worked until he was 69.
John, who became known for coining snappy headlines in the shortest time, died in hospital from kidney failure earlier this month.
Former Comet editor Brian West recalls John limping into the office and asking for a job wearing no socks or tie and a woolly hat.
Said Brian: “On the face of it, he was a prospective employee best avoided, but something about him persuaded me to give him a chance, and he did not let me down. I still regard him as one of my greatest successes as an editor and employer.
“What most impressed me, and all the other journalists who worked with him, was his awesome knowledge of English, his insistence on impeccable grammar and punctuation, and his brilliance as a headline writer.
“I thought I was a pretty good sub, but John was exemplary and his precision in casting off copy and writing headlines that always fitted, was never equalled by anyone who worked for me.”
John, who started his career on his local paper the Llanelli Star, leaves wife Rosaleen, daughter Caroline, by his first marriage, and three granddaughters.
His funeral was held in Leatherhead on 23 November where a eulogy was read out by Surrey journalist Tim Harrison who first met John while doing work experience at the Comet in the 1970s.
The two later worked together at the Kingston Informer.
Said Tim: “When I first encountered JV he was still in his 30s. Despite the hot August day he wore a blue knitted bobble hat on top of a woolly mass of hair which looked like the contents of a cushion. Instead of a shirt, he’d opted for a string vest, which made his tattooed arms look even more immense.
“As a fearless teenage reporter I once asked JV, after a few pints in the Griffin, how he’d got his limp. He told me he had been in the SAS before he went into journalism, and had been injured in a night-time parachute drop. The prosaic truth is that he had polio as a child, but I still prefer the SAS version.
John Vivian is pictured in the centre of the picture
He added: “Days were spent in the office, nights in the Druid’s Head pub – always standing, pint in one hand, Silk Cut in the other, regaling everyone with a stream of politically incorrect jokes and obscene limericks, accompanied by a laugh like rolling thunder.
“You’d have thought Barnum and Bailey were in charge of recruitment at the Surrey Comet, so bizarre were the lives of the oddballs, clowns and eccentrics who apparently filled editorial.”
John finished his career at the Kingston Informer just before his 70th birthday.
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JV was a wonderful man and a brilliant journalist. He made a lasting impression on so many of us by setting his – and our – standards so high. The tribute above and the two pictures are just perfect. JV was, and is, a true local newspaper legend.
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I spoke to JV on the day France beat Wales in the Rugby World Cup and was shocked at how frail he sounded, but I never thought that would be the last time I spoke to him.
I was a novice sub when he arrived on the Surrey Comet in 1966, a couple of months after me.He taught me so much and lives on in the all-time hit parade of my journalistic heroes.
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Extraordinary how a well written obituary can turn into an uplifting experience. I think JV would have approved
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Very sad news about JV. Will always have the very fondest memories a great friend, a formidable drinking companion (!) – but above all, a fine journalist, who taught more than anyone I else I knew to all the young hotheads at the Comet (including myself).
He deserves to be remembered as a true craftsman – perhaps one of the last to make a meaningful contribution to local journalism – a larger-than-life character, a professional in every sense of the word, and someone who will always be remembered fondly and with great respect by all those who worked with him.
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Firstly, how nice to see Mssrs Murrill’s and Pinn’s tributes here. I lost my father soon after joining the Comet, and I suppose JV became a much-needed strong male figure in my life. He also instilled in me that need to go the extra mile – whether in the literal sense of getting on my push bike to get stories, or never accepting second-best, which is what I do in my current job hassling broadcasters for info. Hope there’s a Druid’s Head in Heaven. RIP
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I am sure i speak for many of the old hot metal compositors in saying that JV was a pleasure to work with and at times a lot of his quick jokes helped the pages and edtion to go to press. If there is a Druid’s Head in Heaven mate there must be a lot of the old employees who have passed on up there with you.
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There’s a yawning gap in reports of John Vivian’s illustrious career. I was on the Melton Mowbray Times (1962-1967) when the editor, Les Chester, hired this eccentric chief sub. As a disillusioned junior reporter, I was ready to give up the business in that tedious home-town world . . . until John came into my life. A legendary drinker, a sense of humour that had his small band of reporters in stitches and a brilliance for turning our drab copy into compelling stories . . .with great headlines to match. We all rode on the back of his great enthusiasm for our trade. I turned up, unannounced, at a pub in Kingston-on-Thames when I heard about his retirement bash. He remembered me right away, flattering indeed after so many years. One of the very best. Sadly missed.
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