ONE OF the unsung heroes of the daily newspaper is the copytaster, whose tasks include selecting material from items supplied by news agencies. This means evaluating a constant stream of information, much of it not worth much consideration, but all the time looking out for nuggets of interest, from significant elements of important stories to quirky pieces that will brighten up the next day’s paper.
One of the masters of this art was John Gerard, known for most of his working life as JG. The Times’s foreign desk copytaster from 1991, Gerard had a deep insight into what interests the readers and captures their imagination. While pulling together vast amounts of material on wars and earthquakes, making sure that details were not duplicated and that any inconsistencies were cleared up, he would keep an eye out for offbeat brief reports for which he would then write a witty headline, chuckling with delight as he did so.
John Richard Alexander Gerard was born in Manchester in 1945. After leaving school he spent a brief, unhappy time in a factory before joining the weekly Woking News and Mail, in Surrey, being appointed its editor at 19. From there he moved to the Evening Gazette in Colchester where, at 26, he became the youngest editor of such a publication.
In the late 1970s Gerard joined the trade publication, UK Press Gazette, where again he became editor. In 1985 he started at The Times as a sub-editor and was heavily involved in the move to Wapping the following year.
Gerard was a passionate Manchester United supporter, using “Giggs” as his computer password and struggling out to watch his team on television even during the later stages of his long illness.
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He composed light music and played the guitar and harmonica, at one time jamming at a friend’s pub with Phil Collins and Eric Clapton, who, on hearing JG’s harmonica in the next room, declared: “That man plays a mean harp!” Gerard was married three times. He is survived by a step-daughter.
John Gerard, journalist, was born on September 29, 1945. He died on February 7, 2006, aged 60.