The Power of Forward Thinking

My sister-in-law's late father, Geoffrey Whatmore, was a lovely man. He was also well-travelled, extremely clever and a wrote a number of books. I was recently shown this newspaper article, written in November 1968, which I thought some of you would find interesting ...

 

Here is an extract of Geoffrey's obituary,

which appeared in The Guardian newspaper

on 8th Jan 2016

My fellow news librarian, Geoffrey Whatmore, who has died aged 95, was one of the key figures in the world of media information during the second half of the 20th century. Appointed in the early 1950s as the Manchester Guardian’s first professional librarian, he later became BBC head of news information.

Geoffrey was to spend the next few years turning an archaic collection of press cuttings, index cards and random books into an effective newspaper reference service, providing valuable assistance during major events such as the Suez crisis. He even managed to persuade management to install a telephone in the library.

Eventually, though, he found the paper “stuffy” and, keen to move to London, found a job running the British Institute of Management’s information department. Following this, he was appointed personal assistant to Cecil King, chairman of the Daily Mirror. Throughout much of the 1960s and during dramatic company takeovers, Geoffrey was at the newspaper baron’s side, writing many of his speeches.

Over the years, the BBC had fostered a whole tribe of intersecting libraries and it was one of Geoffrey’s jobs to bring some order to radio and TV reference services. The role was also the focus of intense library politics, but he was later to look back at this time at the BBC as the most rewarding of his working life.
A fine writer, Geoffrey was the author of a number of books, including titles on news information and a guide to his adopted home of Pershore in Worcestershire. In a long retirement he ran his own antiquarian books business, specialising in angling, one of his favourite pastimes.