Dear Bill

by W.F. Deedes

Over the course of a career spanning 70 years, William Deedes, or "Dear Bill," has become one of the most respected and admired journalists of the last century. This is his story, told with his characteristic modesty, insight and wit. As a young reporter, Bill Deedes was sent off to cover the Abyssinian war, thereby gaining him a reputation as a fearless war reporter and also inadvertently providing Evelyn Waugh with the inspiration for Scoop 's hero, Henry Boot. Kept on after the Telegraph merger, Bill rose through the ranks until he was eventually made editor—a position he held for several years. Today he continues to write for the Telegraph as well as work tirelessly for charity.

Genres: Biography

464 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1997

About the author

William Francis "Bill" Deedes, Baron Deedes, KBE, MC, PC, DL (1 June 1913 – 17 August 2007) was a British Conservative Party politician, army officer and journalist; he is to date the only person in Britain to have been both a member of the Cabinet and the editor of a major daily newspaper, The Daily Telegraph.

Satirical magazine Private Eye's "Dear Bill" spoof letters from Denis Thatcher, published throughout Maragaret Thatcher's years as Prime Minister, were assumed to be addressed to Deedes. The Eye also based its long-running editorial comment, "Shome mishtake shurely?", on Deedes' distinctive slur.

According to many sources, Deedes was the journalist used by Evelyn Waugh as the model and inspiration for the hapless William Boot, protagonist of the satirical novel Scoop.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Deedes

Reviews

[Anthony Colozza · Rating 2 out of 5]

Usually I really like memoirs. They are interesting and give you insight into people's lives that may be very different from yours. Deedes' memoir was just never able to get my interest. I don't know if it is because there were a lot of British references and views that if you are not from there, like me, you are just not going to get or completely understand or just the writing style in general. But all in all I struggled to get through this. On the plus side I did find the WWII portions somewhat interesting. If you are a fan of British history, you will probably appreciate this more then I did. But if you just like reading memoirs I think there are a lot of better choices out there.

[Cocaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Superbly writen by one who served as journalist to the Daily Telegraph but also as a Tory minister when being true blue was not another name for monetarist. His memories of the World War Two and the time that foloowed are succintly told using wit, wisdom and homour. It touches, briefly, on the demise of Fleet Street and the trials and tribulations that occured during the 1980's. It tell's of the horrors of life with unions but also mentions the Wapping dispute. One of my better finds.

[Sheri Darby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting