James Davie, who has died aged 78, was a leading member of the Scottish journalistic diaspora in London. After cutting his teeth at the Glasgow Herald, he moved south to the now defunct Morning Telegraph daily in Sheffield, and then to the Daily Telegraph magazine near Fleet Street. Later, he joined the Radio Times, and was working there when in 1989 he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, an illness that forced him to retire a few years later.
Jim cut an exotic figure in the monochrome newsrooms of the 1960s. He wore green corduroy jackets and elegant suits, smoked cigarettes in long holders and often sported a bow tie. He had also lost all his hair shortly before his history finals at St Andrews University, so in the days of Beatlemania he stood out from the crowd long before shaven heads became a fashion statement.
He loved cooking and socialising, gave sparkling parties at his Barbican flat, and in the early 90s surprised several of his large circle of friends by coming out as gay.
Eldest of three children of Marie (nee Smith) and Capt James Davie, Jim was born in the coastal town of Montrose, just north of Dundee, and went to Montrose academy before the family moved to Edinburgh, where Jim attended Daniel Stewart’s college. Following the death of his father, a captain in the Merchant Navy, when Jim was nine, the family spent a year in his mother’s native Australia before returning to Scotland.
Jim could turn his hand to most forms of print journalism. At the Glasgow Herald he was a features writer, but he switched effortlessly to writing editorials at the Morning Telegraph. At the Daily Telegraph magazine, his versatility was put to the test by its mercurial editor, John Anstey, who made enormous demands on his staff.
Jim enjoyed the challenge of colour printing – an accomplished amateur painter, he had a good eye for photographs – and was known for sharp headlines and pithy captions. But although he liked the variety involved in producing a weekly magazine, he was uneasy with the atmosphere of perpetual change and left for the Radio Times.
He was to stay there for almost 20 years, most notably as letters editor and regional features editor, commissioning and editing pieces with good humour and tact. Meanwhile he was producing a broad range of freelance work – reviewing fiction and cookery books, contributing features to a number of newspapers and writing regularly for the Guardian from 1977 on a range of subjects, which included a restaurant column, Eating Out.
In involuntary retirement he remained an enthusiastic member of as many organisations as his MS would permit. First on crutches, then in his wheelchair, he kept up with the opera, his old school, his university, his City of London ward and, above all, the Parish Clerks, the 15th-century Guild whose members represent the ancient City parishes.
His firm religious convictions helped him cope with his illness. He never complained about his MS, but as the condition eventually confined him to his wheelchair, he became increasingly dependent on his civil partner, Michael, who cared for him to the end.
He is survived by Michael, and by his sisters, Marie and Ann.
