Former West Briton reporter Vicky Annear died last month. Vicky
joined the newspaper in 1975 and worked in its Truro head office and in
the Falmouth-Penryn district for nearly 25 years. She was known for her
enthusiasm allied to a great ability to track down human interest
stories. Such was the esteem in which she was held, especially in the
towns of Falmouth and Penryn, that civic leaders attended her funeral
in Penryn.
A number of local organisations have since raised
funds in her memory and in aid of a charity for Huntington’s Disease,
from which Vicky suffered.
Vicky was born in the west of Cornwall
but the family made their home in the Camborne area. She joined the
West Briton under the editorship of Max Hodnett, who said: “She was an
extremely competent journalist and a valuable member of staff.”
Barrie
Bennetts, the doyen of Cornish district reporters, with whom Vicky
worked, added: “She was so full of enthusiasm. It is a sad loss.”
Staff on the West Briton’s rival, the Packet series, were equally complimentary.
News editor Stephen Ivall said: “She was a really nice person and a muchliked and well-respected journalist.”
Vicky
was particularly well known in the Falmouth and Penryn area. Mary May,
former mayor of Penryn, who presented Vicky with a gift from the town
council when she left the Briton, said: “She always reported well and
gave our town good coverage.”
Vicky retired in 1999. Six years
ago she was diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease, a hereditary condition
that had claimed the life of her mother. She leaves her husband, Phil,
and teenage son Andy.
Noel Perry, The West Briton
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