Death Of Former Editor Of Sunday Mercury

04 January 2012

Former Press Club member John Bradbury, who edited the Sunday Mercury during a 30-year-long career at the Birmingham Post and Mail, has died, aged 79.

The funeral service will be at Oakley Wood Crematorium, near Warwick, at 12 noon on Friday, January 13. The family has extended an invitation to friends and former colleagues to join them afterwards at the Bakers Arms, Broad Campden.

John, who died peacefully at a Gloucestershire nursing home on New Year’s Day, had suffered from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s for seven years before his death.

He is survived by his wife Molly, two sons and a daughter, five grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Born in Coventry, John worked for The Birmingham Post, Sports Argus and the Birmingham Mail and edited the Sunday Mercury before his retirement in 1990. He was also editor-in-chief of the group’s weekly titles.

Press Club member Paul Raymer, who worked alongside John for 20 years, said he was especially good at nurturing younger reporters, including ex-Post journalist Nick Owen, current presenter of BBC Midlands Today. He added: “John was a journalist of the old school – he was always very jovial, very good at encouraging people and enjoyed a good relationship with editorial staff that continued through the years.

John’s elder son, Andrew, said: “He was dedicated to the newspaper industry.”

John had also been an active member of the National Union of Journalists and the Newspaper Press Fund.