An intrepid Fleet Street journalist
James Murray Journalist BORN JULY 26, 1930 – DIED MAY 13, 2020, AGED 89
WITH A portable typewriter in one hand and a box suitcase in the other, James Murray was the archetypal foreign correspondent in the 1960s and 1970s, bringing Daily and Sunday Express readers vivid dispatches from hotspots all over the world.
While taking a helicopter ride on the frontline of theVietnamWar, he was shot at by guerillas and, during Israel’s Six-Day War, he witnessed the death of a fellow journalist – killed by a missile while taking a risky taxi journey across hostile territory.
Back in those days foreign correspondents put the risks to one side because the only thing that mattered was getting the story filed to London as quickly as possible and trouncing the opposition.
After epic assignments across Africa, including a revolution in Zanzibar and uprisings in Uganda, Malawi and Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), Sir John Junor, then editor of the Sunday Express, sent him a treasured herogram.
“I congratulate you on the splendid articles you have written as a result of your trip to Africa,” wrote Sir John. “It has been a noteable (his spelling) achievement.”
James Murray was born in Leith, Edinburgh, one of nine (a brother died in infancy) to Davey, a Hansom cab driver, and Maggie, who, despite losing three brothers in the First World War, was inspirationally positive about life.
As a teenager, he waved three older brothers off to fight in the Second World War. They all fought with distinction and survived.
Following his stint of National Service, Murray joined the Southern Reporter in the Scottish Borders before seeing a rougher side of life as crime correspondent for The Bulletin in Glasgow.
In 1954, the Sunday Express in Scotland gave him a roving brief and his stories soon caught the eye of editors in London who persuaded him to travel south.
While foreign editor, Murray established a four-page foreign news section which became the envy of Fleet Street.
For a spell he held executive positions in the Manchester office
of the Sunday Express before switching to the Daily Express features department in London where he was deployed to cover the Troubles in Ireland, the Cod War in Iceland and many specials, including persuading the family of Hitler’s deputy Rudolf Hess to talk about the deputy führer’s “peace mission” to Britain.
Later, as television editor for the Daily Express, he proved a witty and provocative columnist and critic and oversaw the successful expansion of the paper’s weekend television section.
During the heyday of television in the 1980s, he was on first name terms with all the small-screen stars including Bruce Forsyth, Eric Morecambe, Ernie Wise and Terry Wogan, to name but a few.
A newspaperman from a rare vintage, he is survived by his wife, Jessie, 91, three sons, a daughter and five granddaughters.