Award-winning journalist who started career in Hastings dies

A journalist who started out as a junior reporter at the Hastings Observer in the 1950s has died aged 78.
Ken SeymourKen Seymour
Ken Seymour

Ken Seymour became a reporter at the paper when he was only 15 before embarking on a long and successful career in journalism.

His sister Delia (Dee) Spears, from St Leonards, said: “He had a very long career in the news and television world and became the youngest sub-editor at just 18 years old for Brighton’s Evening Argus.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Ken also worked for three years for CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) in Montreal, Canada. While in New York, he interviewed John Lennon and Yoko Ono in New York.

From 1971 to 1981, he edited, reported and produced for Day by Day, the Southampton-based news magazine programme of Southern Independent Television.

From 1981 to 1986, he was head of news at Plymouth-based TV station, Television South West. Delia added: “During this time, Ken won 21 national and international awards for his documentaries and current affairs programmes, including several gold medals at the New York international Film Festival, the Royal Television Society award for the best regional programme of the year on TV, and an Emmy Nomination for the Best International Documentary.”

Ken also spent four years as a freelance journalist for national daily and Sunday newspapers from 1986 to 1990.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

In his later years he was press officer for Plymouth University where his writing and editing of the Annual Review won the Universities and Colleges award for the Best Annual Report in Britain. He later moved to Portsmouth from Saltash, Cornwall to be near his family as his health started to fail.

Ken, fondly known to his siblings as Mickey, passed away at The Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth, last Wednesday (July 19).

His funeral will be held on August 10 at noon at the Portchester Crematorium Fareham, Hampshire.

Ken was the son of Ernest Kenneth Seymour and Dorothy Seymour and brother to Barry, Delia and Linda.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He leaves two daughters, Ginny and Judi, and a son, Kevin, five grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live.

Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be amongst the first to know what’s going on.

1) Make our website your homepage at www.hastingsobserver.co.uk/ 2) Like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/hastingsobserver

3) Follow us on Twitter @HastingsObs

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

4) Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here.

And do share with your family and friends - so they don’t miss out!

The Hastings Observer - always the first with your local news.

Be part of it.