‘You never worked for Ron, you worked with him’ Colleagues pay tribute after shock loss of respected journalist

One of the county’s most respected journalists has died after suffering a heart attack. Ron Green was a former editor of the Kent Messenger, Kent Today daily newspaper and Kentonline. Beginning his career on Sheppey in the 1960s, the 73-year-old worked in Maidstone, Medway, Canterbury, Gravesend, Folkestone and Larkfield. He launched the Pride in Medway and Pride of Maidstone award schemes and was presented with a certificate of merit by the chief constable for running the Kent Young People’s Respect Awards.

The grandfather died early Tuesday morning after suddenly becoming ill at his home in Littlehampton, West Sussex. His wife of 53 years, Paulene, said they’d been out for a long walk with their 14-yearold grandson, where Ron had been “messing about climbing trees” with the youngster. As they were getting ready for bed last night, he became ill and collapsed.

Such was his fun-loving way, Paulene, 72, didn’t realise at first what was happening. She said: “I thought he was messing about again and I told him to ‘cut it out’ but then I realised something was wrong. I realised he was in a bad way and I called 999. The ambulance came and they were here for 45 minutes trying everything they could think of to bring him back. They were wonderful but it wasn’t to be.

“He wasn’t ill at all, unless there were underlying conditions, which they’ll find out later.”

The couple met 55 years ago at the Chatham News where Paulene was a proof reader and Ron was going for shorthand lessons. They had two children Adrian and Julia – both teachers – five grandchildren and a step grandchild.

Ron, who was proud of his Medway Towns upbringing, retired from the Kent Messenger Group in January 2010, just two days short of completing 30 years with the company. The following month, he received a Shepherd Neame Lifetime Achievement Award with a citation saying “a first-rate journalist who writes like an angel”. Throughout an illustrious career, he held a dozen senior editorial jobs, including deputy editor of the

Kent Evening Post. During his editorship the Kent Messenger became the largest-circulation weekly paper in the UK. It also won the title of UK community newspaper of the year and was voted the weekly newspaper of the year in 2002 and 2003.

His first award came in 1965 when he won a competition for Kent trainee journalists, with the last in 2005 for Kent’s War, the KM Group’s supplement commemorating the 60th anniversary of VE

Day and judged the “best added value supplement” by the Newspaper

Society.

Former KM

Ron Green in the 1960s Ron with his KM Group retirement ‘front page’