Today’s Daily Mail report desribes French as “a distinguished journalist of the old school”, who worked for Associated Newspapers for 40 years.
He joined the company ass a reporter on the then Sunday Dispatch in 1936 and rose to become editor of the Daily Sketch in 1962 – a job he kept until being succeeded by Sir David English in 1969.
He is pictured above in 1955.
The Daily Mail today descibes him as:
Tall and slim, always immaculately dressed with highly-polished shoes and sporting a handlebar moustache, French did not conform to the popular image of a Fleet Street editor.
Possessed of great foresight and wisdom, French, an expert on newspaper design, went on to become director in charge of editorial development, a director of Harmsworth Publications and a director of Associated Newspapers.
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