The deputy editor of four different newspapers who “could and should” have stepped up to run the titles has died aged 75.

Tributes have been paid to John Ryan, who served as second in command at Glasgow newspapers the Evening Times, the Sunday Standard and The Herald, as well as the Scottish Daily Express.

John, pictured, was taken on as deputy at the Express in his mid-20s, having began his career there as a copy boy aged 17.

In an obituary for The Herald, Hugh MacDonald described him as a “genius” who designed pages “that reflected with flair and precision the events of the day”.

Hugh wrote: “His vision, judgment and supreme skills as a designer ensured he was held in the highest regard by such editors as Charlie Wilson and George McKechnie who entrusted Ryan with the organisation and display of major stories. They were sound if merciless judges of journalistic work but Ryan was never found wanting.

“He could and should have been an editor but rejected attempts to recruit him in this role. He was happiest with a layout sheet, a pile of pictures and a wad of thumbed copy. From these mundane elements, he would produce dramatic but always stylish pages.

“He could adopt a gruffness that was the staple of the late 20th century newspaperman but he could never quite pull it off. He had a seriousness about newspapers, how stories should be handled, how mistakes must not be made, but he was, in essence, a mischievous man. He had a well-developed sense of the absurd (he rejoiced in Flann O’Brien) and was always on the verge of breaking into the sort of wheezing, hissing laugh that recalled the age of the steam train.

“Ryan was wickedly funny, often at his own expense. The tension and power plays of high-ranking journalism could be swiftly dissipated by one of his quips, normally made out of the side of his mouth.”

John died on Friday, and is survived by his wife Shanna, sons Simon, Dominic and Paul, daughter Cara, and grandchildren Jude, Finn, Paddy, Isla, Mia and Susannah.

Hugh added: “Ryan was the most demanding and rewarding of bosses. He was also the most loyal, warm and supportive of friends. In the heat of the newsroom or in the trials of life, he would take a confused striver aside and offer not just words of encouragement but practical support.

“There are many old timers in Scottish journalism (and this scribbler is one) who owe their continued employment and subsequent careers to his gentle charity.”