POPULAR EDITOR KEV WAS ‘A PASSIONATE CHAMPION OF AREA’
Tributes paid to 64-year-old who will be ‘sorely missed’
TRIBUTES have been paid to a celebrated journalist and community champion following his sudden death.
Kevin Booth passed away in hospital on May 1 following a short illness.
The 64-year-old started his illustrious career at weekly newspapers in Cheadle and Leek before rising through the ranks to become editor at four regional titles.
Kevin, who was a huge Stoke City fan, was well-loved in the Staffordshire Moorlands village of Waterfall, where he lived with his wife of 22 years, Trish.
Trish said: “He was my best friend and my whole world. He was a real people person. He had friends right across the country, and he treated everybody with the same decency and respect no matter who they were.”
Kevin also leaves two grownup children, Anna and Alex, from a previous marriage, and his brother Pete, who lives in Cheadle. His other brother Terry and sister Maureen had sadly both died.
Since moving to Waterfall more than a decade ago, Kevin had been an active member of the community. He was on the church committee and a member of Waterfall and Winkhill Players, which puts on a village show every year.
Last year, Kevin wrote a pantomime and had started work on a second for this Christmas.
His friend Kevin Sharpe, of Waterhouses, said: “Kev was such a lovely man and so well-liked. He was a regular at the Red Lion pub in Waterfall and everybody in there knew him really well.
“When the news of his death broke, lots of people were very upset. It has been such a massive shock to lose him. He would make friends with anyone. If he ever saw walkers while out with his dogs, he would stop and chat to them. His death will leave a big hole in the community.”
As a younger man, Kevin was a well regarded footballer in the Moorlands, playing for a number of clubs including Kingsley Village Hall, Boltons, Butchers Arms and the Jolly Sailor in Leek.
His four-decade career in journalism started at the Cheadle and Tean Times, before he moved to the Leek Post & Times and then became the highly regarded crime reporter at The Sentinel. Later in his career he returned to Etruria as deputy head of the West Midlands Production Hub. He went on to become editor of newspapers in Peterborough, York, Burton and Leicester and also held senior positions at papers in Bristol, Birmingham and Derby.
Longtime friend Jim Hannah first met Kevin when they worked together at the Cheadle and Tean Times. Jim said: “I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like Kev.
“He was a great friend and we had some great adventures and laughs together.
“I am really going to miss him. It’s a big shock and I am still coming to terms with what’s happened. My heart goes out to Trish and all his family.”
Former editor of The Sentinel, Mike Sassi, said: “Kev was an excellent journalist and a fantastic colleague. His news sense and his professionalism were second to none.
“He also had a great sense of humour – which always made him popular, both inside and outside of the newsroom.”
Mike Lowe, who worked with Kevin at The Sentinel and was later his editor at the Derby Telegraph, said: “Boothy was a consummate newsman who never shirked any task.
“He was a delight to work with and I learned an awful lot from him. He was also terrific company and a great friend; a lifelong football fan and a passionate champion of the Potteries. He will be sorely missed by all who knew him.”