Dossier 20 - Gerard Fay

1 minidisc, cds, 1 file, 6 AIFF files (688.8 MB)

Interview with Stephen Fay, discussing his father Gerard Fay, London editor of the Manchester Guardian. Conducted by Leslie Plommer on 12 February 2002. Also includes a data sheet containing biographical details about the subject and information about the recording.

Summary contents of interview (with rough timings):

Disc 1:
Track 1
01.09 Story of Gerard Fay's early years
02.44 Rochdale Observer
03.29 Joined Oldham Chronicle as leader writer
03.59 Wrote to the features editor of the Manchester Guardian asking if he could write for them
04.50 Meeting with WP Crozier
05.24 Given a job as reporter 1939

Track 2
00.15 John Midgely, John Douglas Pringle
01.09 Joined the Army
01.26 Wounded after D Day - In hospital for six months then went back to Guardian
02.20 Wadsworth as editor
02.43 Sent to London in 1946
04.07 Winnipeg Free Press
04.33 Covered the Linskey tribunal
05.38 He had wonderful conversational style
05.46 Wrote 2 books, semi autobiographical
06.25 Good companion and he drank a lot
06.30 Louis Heren
07.25 John Midgely
07.36 Research for the 1949 Royal Commision, survey of graduates on Fleet Street
08.51 Phillip Hope Wallace, drama critic and a great chum of Gerard

11.30 Francis Boyd wanted to be London editor
11.50 Was in Tokyo, when offered the job, he loved being the London editor. He was 'innocently proud' of the pape
13.16 Became a director of the company
13.31 In charge of syndication, international representative of the Guardian

Track 3
00.47 By 1959 Hetherington had become the editor
01.24 Gerard was doing the diary, and the quality was variable, depending on what people gave him
02.11 Manchester no longer the great economic capital it once was, it was inevitable that the paper would move
03.33 The move to London in 1961 was something he took very seriously and he organised it as well as he could
04.52 First stirrings of new technology in the late 1950s

Track 4
00.27 Editing the paper during the Profumo affair
02.04 This was a period of growing unhappiness
02.40 Hetherington became more critical and Gerard became more discontented
02.52 Involved in the run up to the great financial crisis of 64-66 when the directors were in talks with the Times.
03.38 Resigned in November 1966
04.03 Brian Redhead was the features editor
04.30 Gerard didn't resign, he was sacked by the board
05.49 He died eighteen months later [in 1968]

Track 5
00.18 He was only 54, when he died. Mourned by many of his colleagues.
00.45 He had a whimsical column called 'the university of Saturday'. He had whimsical sense of humour
01.36 He was one of the past generation of Guardian people
02.45 His wife felt that his loyalty to the Guardian had been betrayed
03.14 Drink and Fleet Street in that period went together.
03.43 Didn't like sport
04.36 Had to take all his money when he left as his pension
05.41 He hoped to write some books and wrote some freelance pieces for the UK Press Gazette
07.39 Wasn't until he became London editor that he got £1,000 a year

Track 6
02.00 Should never expect loyalty from an institution.
03.34 Was such a good writer, could have gone on writing for another 15 years
04.38 He seemed to have so much fun with his chums, whilst doing interesting work
06.00 Wadsworth's purge in the 40s

Access to recording via GNM Digital Repository

Copyright: Guardian News & Media Ltd and Stephen Fay