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Business journalist meets his final deadline

A column dictated by a journalist from his hospital bed hours before he passed away has finally appeared in print.

Long-time Kent Business contributor Martin Jackson, left, died aged 75 at the Kent and Sussex Hospital, Tunbridge Wells just after Christmas.

But though suffering from long-term illness, Martin was determined to maintain a reputation for never having missed a deadline in 12 years of writing for the monthly title.

His final column, in which he penned a poignant farewell to his readers, was read at his funeral last month and appears in the February edition of Kent Business which went on sale last week.

His daughter Rebekah Jones recounted the story of how Martin dictated the column to her from his hospital bed.

“I typed up what I had, and went through it with him line by line on 27 December when he drafted the last paragraph,” she said.

“He was filing and amending his copy for his column just 24 hours before he died on 28 December.

“He was most insistent on that day that it was done. It was so important to him,” she added.

Martin was a journalist for almost 60 years and spent 21 years in Fleet Street, working as radio and TV editor for the Daily Express and Daily Mail.

He was also a founding director of Television South (TVS), the television broadcaster for Kent and the South East in the 1980s.

KM Group business editor Trevor Sturgess said: “We are so honoured that Martin thought so much of Kent Business that he was so determined to complete his final column.

“In typical Jackson style, he recalls an embarrassing encounter with Greek singer Melina Mercouri, a Frank Sinatra exclusive he never wrote, and his scary brush with chat show host Simon Dee. In a poignant, final paragraph, he says goodbye to his readers.

“He was great company and would reel off numerous anecdotes about show business people he had met.

“Martin was a towering figure in Kent’s media scene, and his knowledge and insights will be greatly missed.”

Comments

Sheila Ashton (09/02/2010 09:59:51)
That’s enormously moving. And heartening to hear that such dedication was appreciated by his employers. I never worked with Martin and I think it was my loss