Forum for former BBC staff

Forum for former BBC staff
http://www.ex-bbc.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl >> Notices, obituaries and tributes >> Tony Jay http://www.ex-bbc.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1072953341 Message started by Forum Admin on Jan 1^st, 2004, 10:36am

Title: Tony Jay
Post by Forum Admin on Jan 1^st, 2004, 10:36am

Tony Jay, a senior journalist for many years in the Radio Newsroom, has died. His funeral will be at St. Mary's Church, Church Road, Barnes on Wed. Jan 7 at 11.30.

Title: Re: Tony Jay
Post by IanHyams on Jan 4^th, 2004, 4:53pm

Can't help remembering Tony more post-BBC than BH, when we'd meet at the regular Aylsham, Norfolk auction where, as usual, he would be surrounded by his beloved books while I tried flogging my box cameras.
Ian Hyams

Title: Re: Tony Jay
Post by Forum Admin on Jan 6^th, 2004, 4:41pm

Tony Jay was an immensely popular figure for many years at Broadcasting House. He was a sub-editor in the Sports Room (when they had such things) before moving to the Radio Newsroom, where he rose to become a Duty Editor. He could easily have gone higher but he was never a Corporation man - even in the pre-Birt days. He would lumber in from his beloved Barnes in his equally beloved VW camper van, knock off his first bulletin and retire to one of the nearby pubs, where he preferred to stand at the bar, a pint in one hand and a roll-up cigarette in another. A Perrier lunch would not have gone down well with Tony. He made few concessions to fashion - he would often come to work without socks. And he had even less time for fashionable management theories. Not many of the Corporation's "initiatives" of the past 15 years would have passed the Tony Jay test. In the newsroom he sometimes liked to play the curmudgeon - he affected outrage when he heard he would have to learn how to use a keyboard on the introduction of the Basys computer system. But everybody could see the warmth and humour - as well as the complete professionalism - beneath the surface. He never sought popularity - he was always his own man - but he got it, anyway.
Tony Jay was born on June 30, 1932. After retiring from the BBC in 1989 he spent a lot of time at his other home in Norfolk. He died on Boxing Day, 2003, of cancer. He leaves a wife and three children.

Title: Re: Tony Jay
Post by Forum Admin on Jan 9^th, 2004, 2:08pm

Barry Rocard recalls an incident that came to be known as "the night Tony Jay caught fire".
A number of us were in the old club bar in Chandos Pole Street (remember the doorman with the drawling announcements over the PA?).
Fergus MacKenzie was talking out of one side of his mouth and puffing furiously on his pipe out of the other. At one point he coughed and sparks flew out of the bowl of the pipe. Nothing happened for a few minutes then flames suddenly leapt up from the cuff of Tony's trousers. I seem to remember they were sandy-coloured corduroys.
There was much hurried stamping around and flapping at the flames and, of course, hilarity.

Title: Re: Tony Jay
Post by Forum Admin on Jan 10^th, 2004, 11:23am

This short obit on Tony was published in this week's Richmond and Twickenham Times, written by Sarah Woods:

"A FORMER BBC news editor from Barnes, Tony Jay, died on Boxing Day at home in Rocks Lane with his family by his side.

"Anthony Ellis Jay, who was 71 when he died, was a well known figure in the area and had lived in Barnes for almost 40 years.

"He was born in 1932 in Wolverhampton and joined the BBC in 1960, where he worked his way up to become senior duty editor on radio news.

"Prior to this he had worked on titles such as the Chambers Encyclopaedia and Building Equipment News.

"Tony went to Oxford University from 1953 to 1956 after national service and moved to Barnes in 1966. His hobbies included cricket and translating Russian poetry. He even turned his hand to book dealing and stamp dealing, whilst collecting both.

"Another skill of Tony's was building work and house clearance and he even dabbled in antiques dealing.

"Tony was diagnosed with cancer in June or July of last year and leaves two sons, Peter and Tom, daughter Kate and wife Marion. The funeral was held at St Mary's Church in Barnes on Wednesday, January 7."

Title: Re: Tony Jay
Post by Alan_Ashton on Jan 14^th, 2004, 10:16am

There was a good BBC turn out at Tony's funeral, writes Alan Ashton.
His former editor Peter Woon was there, the present head of radio news Stephen Mitchell and a score of other former newsroom colleagues.
David Crawley paid a pithy and amusing tribute and afterwards many of us went along to his local club in Barnes to say farewell over a pint (or two, three and more) of beer.
It was earlty evening when the last of the lads left the club - something Tony would have appreciated.

Title: Re: Tony Jay
Post by Forum Admin on Jan 15^th, 2004, 7:50pm

This nice obituary of Tony, written by Matt Morris, appeared in Ariel on January 13:

Everybody who knew him will be sad to hear of the death on Boxing Day of Tony Jay, for years a substantial figure in the domestic radio newsroom at BH. He was 71. Tony was at his prime in an era when breaks were taken at the Horse and Groom, or the Yorkshire Grey, or the Crown and Sceptre. Tony's pint was always in a jug, never a straight glass; and he took his ale with a roll-up made of Old Holborn in green rizlas.
Tony's manner could seem fierce, but in that capacious chest there beat a golden heart. With Tony there were never any recriminations. He never blamed anyone else for thingy-ups. If Tony was in charge, he carried the can.
He was in charge on the night of the Broadwater Farm riot, when a policeman was murdered. There was an inexperienced news organiser on duty, who never properly realised what a difficult night it was. Tony sorted him out, as well as doing his own rather more important job superbly.
On another night Tony - again in charge - had done the bulletins with his usual aplomb. It might have been an election night; or maybe the Task Force had landed in the Falnklands. Anyway, the Controller of Radio Four - or was it the Editor of Today? --bustled into the newsroom to ask Tony how things had gone.
"For God's sake woman", barked Tony - shoes off, feet on the desk, roll-up smouldering, whisky tumbler at elbow - "Can't you see I'm busy?"
Tony was a good sportsman in his youth and even towards the end of his career he was prepared to turn out for the newsroom cricket team. At the annual dinner at the end of one particularly successful season Tony - with the usual newsroom irony - was presented with the Best Young Player of the Year award. It was, he noted in his acceptance speech, "a gross carriage of justice".
Tony leaves his wife Marian, his children Kate, Peter and Tom, and the fondest memories among his many colleagues.