Ivor Key, a former Daily Express New York bureau chief has died at his home in Connecticut, aged 85.
Ivor started his newspaper career at the Doncaster Evening News in South Yorkshire with, among others, Michael Parkinson.
After his National Service in the RAF, he moved on to the Sheffield Star before being lured to the Express in Manchester.
Before long he was on his way to Fleet Street where he became a foreign correspondent, covering several international hotspots including the troubles in Aden in the 1960s.
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While there he escaped serious injury when a hand grenade was lobbed into a ditch he was sheltering in during fierce fighting between rebels and the British army.
After Aden he was sent to Africa where one of the last white colonies, Rhodesia, was in revolt and later declared independence. He also reported from Zambia and Kenya.
At one time he was used as the central figure in a Daily Express cinema advert where he “starred” as a reporter calling his news desk from an out of town phone box.
After leaving London, Ivor went to work in the Express’s New York office in the late 1960s under David English, later editor of the Daily Mail.
Eventually Ivor became bureau chief, working alongside such greats as Brian Vine and Philip Finn.
Ivor also spent time in the Caribbean and was with British forces in Anguilla in 1969 during the island’s struggle for independence.
After leaving the Express he joined Star Magazine in New York as showbusiness editor when Rupert Murdoch launched it to rival the National Enquirer.
After retiring to Harwinton, Connecticut, Ivor spent much of his time playing golf, a game he hated in his younger days, and was a board member for 20 years at the country club where he played.
He had a passion for many years for horse racing and attended some of the major meetings in the UK and USA, including the St. Leger in his home town of Doncaster.
For some years Ivor worked as an agent for the Irish Bloodstock Agency dealing with sales of racehorses to American owners.
Ivor was predeceased by his wife Doreen.
He is survived by his daughters Frances and Melissa and four grandchildren.
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