A Great Man

The noon bell tolled as a great man, husband, father, friend and journalist flew gently up to a cloud to love us all from above.

Bob McGowan, born in 1944 with a mischievous sparkle in his penetrating blues eyes was a man that made most feel humbled by his modesty, grace and kindness. Even when his fire rose, his quick witted, sometimes cutting remarks were born from truth and fairness.

Gifted with exceptional eloquence his words would seldom leave no trace. Instead they would make the mark, soothing when pain reared its head, benevolent with sage advice and poignant with authority of the truth.

He soared like an eagle flying from the highest cliff’s edge with the utmost excellence and drive as the great reporter he was. Never satisfied that excellence was exalted or achieved he endeavoured to always improve upon his last story, sentence and word with vehement passion.

He fought gallantly and bravely to report from the front line be that a siege, war, the kidnapping of a child through to helping an elderly woman battle and win a fight against bureaucratic exploitation. He was a strong man who carried the vulnerable on his horse and took them home safely.

From rookie district reporter in Grismby to the Evening Standard and onto the Daily Express, Dad’s colourful career of reporting and liquid lunches spanned some 33 years.

He covered the 6 Day War, 1967, the IRA conflict in Northern Ireland onwards from 1969, Yom Kippur War, 1973, the South Mollocan Dutch Siege, 1975, the overthrow of Idi Amin, Uganda, 1978-79, the Russian invasion of Afghanistan, 1979, the Iranian Embassy siege 1980, for which he won Reporter of the Year, the Falklands War from start to finish with 3 Para, 1982, awarded the South Atlantic Medal with Rosette, the Brighton Bombings, Conservative Party Conference 1984, the Libyan Embassy Siege, WPC Yvonne Fletcher, 1984, the hijacking of EgyptAir Flight 648, Malta, 1985,  the kidnapping and murder of schoolgirl Sarah Payne, 2000 and the list goes on.

In 1981 he ran the New York office for six weeks, covering Simon and Garfunkel in Central Park, the folk-rock duo reunited for a free concert on the Great Lawn of New York’s Central Park after years of falling out, the Rollings Stones Tour of America, chased Oliver Reed, banned from drinking in New England for a well deserved and won interview and hunted down Ronnie Biggs, known for his role in the Great Train Robbery of 1963, to Rio, Brazil.

He lunched with Sophia Loren and her husband Carlo Ponti. Dad had always described Sophia Loren as a “leaving home” woman and was quite in awe of her and for once he was lost for words. She asked him, “Bob, shouldn’t you be asking me some questions?”

He drove unaccredited through the borders of Afghanistan with photographer Steve Wood who was a little chilly. “Sorry Bob,” Dad said recalling Steve, “thought this was a hot country.” He then donated his brown, four-ply jumper that Mum had lovingly knitted him much to her irritation! During this time, Steve casually walked over to the Russian army, tanks skulking beneath trees and had a word.
“What are you doing?” Dad asked Steve.
“Oh, just asked them if they wouldn’t mind moving their tanks so I could go to F4 for a bit of depth of field Bob.” And they did.

Being a reporter was always about getting the truth told accurately but it was also importantly about beating the opposition. In March 1987, The Herald of Free Enterprise capsized moments after leaving the Belgian port of Zeebrugge, killing 193 passengers and crew. Dad was manning the news desk and the Daily Express beat the rest of the British Press hollow.

Getting one over the opposition was always the name of the game, especially when they did it all by themselves. Peter Fitzroy Godber was Kowloon’s Deputy District Commissioner of the Royal Hong Kong Police Force and was caught in a bribery scandal after his retirement in 1973. He fled Hong Kong to England and was photographed on arrival by the press. Dad was right in the thick of it. The Daily Mail splashed a picture in the paper and captioned it ‘Peter Godber and one of his minders’. The minder was not in fact a minder at all. It was Bob McGowan, reporter of the Daily Express. In the second edition of the Mail that day, Dad’s face had been cropped out. He was muchly amused by this.

Some stories for Dad set deep within him eternally.

Tormented by memories of the Falklands War, Dad was most affected and saddened by the deaths of soldiers he had sat in the trenches with and who had become brothers and friends. On his return he wrote ‘Don’t Cry for Me Sergeant Major’ with Jeremy Hands ITN, a true soldier's account of how war really was. The terror and the humour of soldiers and of the comraderie that never left his thoughts.

His coverage of the Sarah Payne kidnapping and murder left him cold, deep in thought and with so much sympathy that it was as if it had happened to his own family. He was a good man.

Dad’s hardest battle was in the last 3 months with cancer. Never have I seen a man more brave, more stoical, more concerned with everyone else’s welfare than his own. My mother had breast cancer 20 years ago, fought and beat it. Every few months after Dad would insist on her being checked. Virtually crippled by the steroids and radiotherapy treatment for his brain tumours and carrying an untreated golf ball tumour in his lung he insisted that she be checked again.

He could barely walk and was elated with the news that she was still clear.

His last three weeks were tormentuous weeks for us as he lay in intensive care, wonderfully cared for by Dominique, Dr Mira and all the doctors and nurses at the Clinica Benidorm in Spain. Not once did he complain. Not once did he cry. All he did was thank the nurses and doctors. He was polite. He made jokes. He had such impeccable grace.

The pain of losing Dad is deeper than the Ganges cutting through the Himalayas. My Mum describes her pain of losing Dad as an abyss. They were deeply in love, from the minute they laid eyes on each other to the minute they closed them. Their love was a love that everyone one of us searches for in life, that everyone one of us wishes we could have. A love built on caring, laughter and intellect.

But Dad wouldn’t want her pain to be an abyss.

Instead he would want her to realise that that abyss is actually the immense, immeasurable love they had and have for each other and that will never, ever fade.

To quote Dad’s friend and fellow reporter, Mike O’Flaherty,
“Bob was the greatest. He was brave and resolute and totally unselfish. A reporter without parallel.

“When Bob heard I was ill with a heart problem, he was more concerned about my condition and recovery than his own illness. When I became depressed because of my problem. Bob urged me to fight and beat it as he was doing with his cancer.  It was me he was worried about, not himself.
This is the measure of the man.”

My Dad would say that these words and all of those which have come flooding in during and after his fight with cancer was actually the measure of the great men he worked with. He was truly a champion among champions.

His friends from the Press and the Paras were undoubtedly Brothers in Arms.

Mum, Doug and I love him, are proud of him and he will live in our hearts and voices forever more.

We love you Dad.

Change of scenery

Yesterday I was moved into a room in the intensive care unit by the kindly crew of doctors and nurses.  The change of scenery is great, totally different view, fresh air and am able to watch the news after two weeks of  being cut off.
Still a struggle but a lot of support.  Hard to know what else to say right now, but thinking of all of you all the time.
I am still fighting, thanks to all your support.
Stay safe.
Bob.

Progress

Five days on and I am going to win.
You are all marvellous, as is every single person on the staff here at Clinica Benidorm.
Thank you all, it would be much harder without you.  I am in your debt for ever.
Who would have believed from a cynical person like me, that the world is full of such
fantastic people?
Thank you again and stay safe.
Bob.

Sad news

It seems to be a gathering band of folk fighting the odds of survival. Yet another of my colleagues is facing a battle against the odds.  

The people surrounding me, all the hospital staff, my wife and my son and daughter are totally irreplaceable.  Added to that all the good wishes from friends have given me even more of a chance of winning.

As I have said before, I did not realize how many marvellous people there are in the world.

Stay safe.

Bob 

Still fighting!

I am still here in intensive care, unfortunately having now contracted a bug, but remain positive and determined to win this battle, firstly against the pneumonia and the infection, and then back onto the fight against the tumours.

I’ve said this before, but I must say again, the hospital staff here in Clinica Benidorm,  are incredible in their professionalism, enthusiasm and care.   With this team of doctors, nurses,  administration staff, interpreters  and health workers I will beat these setbacks and eventually the Cancer.

Once again, thanks to all those wonderful people who have sent me so many upbeat messages.

Stay safe.

Bob 

Thank you

I appreciate all the goodwill messages which are pouring in daily, and I will never be able to explain just what they mean to me.   We seem to be talking about the illness all the time on the blog, but you have all been so kind it would be wrong of me not to.   Keep waiting for good news, so this is what I am doing.
Thank you from the bottom of what you didn't know I had - my heart!
Stay safe.   Bob.

Even more Adventure

Pure accident, no-one's fault, I have managed to catch pneumonia.   So my Cancer treatment has had to be put on hold until this is gone.  Silly.   It's just one of those things.  I will keep you posted and obviously I want to get on with the treatment because any delay is not good.  So we will get rid of the pneumonia first and then get on with the real business of getting better. Thanks again for reading this blog.
Stay safe.   Bob.

Advent Rad

About to move into the radio surgery phase today.   So the blog will go quiet for a few days until I come out the other end, and I´ll let you know how it went.   Everything will be terrific with the team I had behind me.   So no worries.  Talk soon.  Thanks for reading this.
Stay safe.  Bob.

Advent great news

Next week I should know what is soon to happen in my continuing treatment on the head and then the lung. All is going the way it should and things could not be more positive.

But for the moment, better than even that, is the news that my wonderful wife, who has survived the breast cancer she contracted twenty years ago, has just had one of her six-monthly checks and has been given the all-clear. To each of us, there is nothing more wonderful than that.

It looks like it's going to be another beautiful weekend and I hope you all enjoy it.

Sorry there's not much this time but thanks for reading it and please,

Stay safe

Bob

Adventure delay

Sorry about that but for some reason the blog was misbehaving.

So to continue. I am delighted to say that the radiotherapy treatment to my head has now been completed and the great team behind it all say it went very well. When they are pleased believe me, I am pleased. They are a fantastic team.

Last Friday several others of our radiotherapy group finished their treatment too. Now they, like me, move on and it was heartwarming to see the radiotherapy staff show them such friendship and support as they left the unit. Their faces are etched on my memory forever.

My next step awaits and I will keep you informed.

As a journalist you might expect a comment from me on the ongoing alleged hacking and more surrounding the News of the World and others.

From what I have read and giving myself the luxury of believing that a great deal of the allegations have the serious ring of truth my personal view is that some elements of our profession sank to  hitherto unplumbed depths and in so doing have caused immeasurable damage to their victims. This a disgrace and and cannot be forgiven. There is never a journalistic reason to damage people's lives.

But I hope it is accepted that that vast majority of working journalists then and now did not and do not operate in this way and should in no way be stained by the rotten apples in this sorry drama. It will take a lot, I suspect, for the public to trust in honest, professional journalism again. But I hope they will.

Many thanks for reading this and I hope no more delays.

Stay safe

Bob

Adventure again

The Moors and Christians festivities finale this weekend in our village. So good to see people forgetting all that might be getting on their nerves and just having fun. I have to say  that living in Spain has certainly taught me that having fun coupled with the Spanish ability to enjoy life are real assets.
Leading up to this weekend my radiotherapy continues at Hospital Clinica Benidorm where the warmth and gentle humour of the staff and their dedication are an inspiration.
My fellow patients are marvellous. Every day the greetings are warmer, the unspoken understanding between us all of varying nationalities so obviously genuine. These good people have a true courage well beyond mine.
And now, back to my old newspaper in Fleet Street many years ago. As I've said before, journalists can be a strange breed prone to being quite ridiculous when the muse grabs them.
One madman calmly walked to a desk in the newsroom one afternoon, hid under it for more than hour until we all forgot he was there, and waited.
About an hour later a hapless and beer befuddled reporter returned to that desk, his, and sat down. It was just at the point that the hidden hack bit him on the leg . The surprised one leapt into the air in deranged shock coupled with a blood-curdling scream that silenced the newsroom for a second, and himself narrowly escaped a heart-attack. We actually produced newspapers while all this was going on. Wierd profession but great fun.
Again, thanks for reading this and stay safe.
Bob

More adventure

In the old Daily Express building in Fleet Street many years ago the powers that be liked to hang signs from the ceiling urging us all to do the right thing.

My favourite: "Cliches will be avoided like the plague."

Another read: "Make it early - make it accurate."

That changed after a disgruntled late night reporter armed with a roll of paper from the old Reuters or Associated Press teleprinter and a pot of glue climbed towards it in the early hours.

Those arriving fresh-faced in the morning saw: "Make it early - Make it up."

Happy days

Meanwhile, returning to Hospital Clinica Benidorm, my radiotherapy to the head continued. All is well.

Thanks for reading this and stay safe,
Bob

The Adventure has begun

First radiotherapy performed on my head today so, following yesterday's post, everything is going just the way it should. More of the same tomorrow and so on.

I've received an avalanche of anecdotal gems from my old Fleet Street colleagues and will put some together soon just for the fun of it. Journalists, I know you know, can be quite strange sometimes and, at least, it won't be about cancer, as promised.

Stay safe,

Bob McG

The Adventure Begins

Tomorrow, June 28, 2011, is for me the start of a new adventure and there have been a few.

I will begin my fight against cancer with one tumour in one lung and its two friends in the brain.

And I will win this.  I will win because I'm determined, always optimistic and I am inspired by the courage of those ahead of me who have fought cancer, including my wife who survived breast cancer twenty years ago, and those who are fighting still.  I consider myself privileged to now be in their company and wish every one of them long life and happiness.

I am a lucky man.  The support from my family and friends is as tremendous as it is humbling.

And I am lucky again because I am being treated in the Hospital Clinica Benidorm in Benidorm, Spain.

In this superb hospital I have found safety and enormous hope. The staff, all of them, are the most professional, caring, optimistic, dedicated and warm-hearted people one could ever be lucky enough to meet.

Well, I would say that but trust me, after weeks and weeks of scans and tests they have given me honest, straight facts, leaving me with no illusions about their skill and my prognosis.

With their dedication driving my determination, together we will win.

Now the radiotherapy on the head begins.  The road to recovery is clearly sign-posted.

My new motto, stitched to my hat is "FIGHT - WIN - LIVE".  That is what I intend to do.

So please stay with me here.  This is a Blog of Hope, not one of despair and although I will keep you posted, it won't always be about cancer.

Thanks for reading this.

Stay safe.

Bob McG