Broadcasting veteran dies at 88

Legendary film-maker, and life-long union member, John Gray has died in Edinburgh after a short illness.

John was 88, and had just been awarded an honorary doctorate by Napier University in recognition of a lifetime spent working in the radio and TV industry.

Best-known publicly for his contribution to documentary film-making, particularly the railway homage "West Highland", in union circles John was a popular and respected stalwart for many decades.

Even in his mid-80s he was still energetic and enthusiastic enough to act as chair of the union's conference standing orders committee, a role he had filled in BECTU and its predecessor unions for nearly 30 years.

He first joined the Association of Cinematographic Technicians (ACT) while working at the GPO film unit in the 1930s, and remained a union member until his death.

In 1940 he joined the BBC, and characteristically joined its house union, the BBC Staff (Wartime) Association, almost immediately. Throughout his meteoric career at the BBC he remained a union loyalist, and served as an active member in the Association of Broadcasting Staff, and the Broadcasting and Entertainment Trades Alliance from its formation in 1984, by which time he had left the Corporation to work as a freelancer.

A further merger saw him become the standing orders chair of yet another union, present-day BECTU, in 1991. By this time his authoritative presence at union conferences, ruling on intricate points of order, and championing the rights of branch delegates against their elected leadership, had almost become a permanent tradition.

Apart from his union activities, John was a tireless contributor to society and the broadcasting sector in general. He co-founded the Edinburgh Television Festival, was active in local and community broadcasting, and latterly had devoted much time to encouraging and educating media students at Napier University, an institution that prides itself on admitting and developing people who have missed out on educational opportunities.

By the time Napier awarded him an honorary doctorate, just a week before he died, he was already confined to a wheelchair, but entertained the large audience at a specially-convened ceremony with his usual energy and wry humour.

His academic and industry friends have lost a thoughtful and active colleague, while his many union associates will miss the annual conference spectacle of John holding court in the evenings with his ubiquitous, and generously replenished, glass of single malt whiskey.