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Legendary journalist Paul Callan dies aged 81
Writer for the Mail, Mirror and Express frequently touched on his pride over his Jewish background
November 23, 2020 09:55
Writer for the Mail, Mirror and Express frequently touched on his pride over his Jewish background
November 23, 2020 09:55The legendary British journalist Paul Callan has died aged 81 fafter falling at his home at the weekend.
The writer, best known for his work with Daily Mail, Daily Mirror and Daily Express newspapers, was renowned for his use of colourful prose and his witty sense of humour.
His daughter Jessica, also a journalist, confirmed on Saturday evening that her father had passed away having recently been diagnosed with cancer.
“I’m heartbroken to have to say that my father Paul Callan died today,” said wrote in a Facebook post.
“He had been unwell for some time and was recently diagnosed with cancer which he wanted to keep quiet.
"So unlike him to want to keep anything quiet!
“But he had a fall in the early hours of today and passed away very quickly.”
During his career Mr Callan frequently touched on his pride over his Jewish background. In a blog he continued to write until late in his life he once discussed the German tradition for great classical music writing: “Although I am not a Christian — we’re Jewish — listening to this great music does inspire feelings of belief in an all-seeing divinity.
“As this massive choral work floated over me I could not help reflecting that this is the work of a German composer and herein rests one of the great questions of humanity.
“How can a nation that gave the world such towering, beautiful music also give the world the evils of Nazism. On the one hand, there is Bach. On the other, there is Belsen, the concentration camp.
“Is it because there is some form of national schizophrenia woven into the German soul? It is an utterly repellent fact that concentration camp orchestras would perform the music of Bach, Beethoven and Brahms as prisoners were herded into the gas chambers.”
He married the American journalist Steffi Fields, who was news editor of NBC News London bureau.
Alongside their daughter Jessica, they have a son James, an editor at Bloomberg News.
In 1995, Mr Callan was sent to cover the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz for the Daily Express. “The result was a spread which was as fine and moving as anything he had ever done,” said former colleague at the paper Alan Frame.
Daily Express editor Gary Jones and former Mirror editor Piers Morgan were amongst those to offer tributes to Mr Callan following his death.
His daughter, Ms Callan, who has worked at the Telegraph and Mirror newspapers, has said a memorial service to honour her father’s time in Fleet Street would take place next year when Covid-19 restrictions are lifted.
