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October 26, 2006updated 22 Nov 2022 9:33pm

Margaret MacDonagh

By Press Gazette

Margaret MacDonagh had a fierce intellect, a waspish sense of humour and an enduring fascination with people.

A deep commitment to justice and fair play informed her journalism and fired her trade unionism.

After training as a reporter on the Slough Express, she joined the Slough Evening Mail before making history by becoming the first female press officer to be appointed by the Post Office.

She was the first communications officer to enlist leading showbusiness entertainers to launch new stamp issues. And the humour of the likes of Ken Dodd, and Morecambe and Wise left their professional mark on Margaret too.

Margaret was hugely engaging company. She was mischievou , yet wonderfully perceptive. She could take a scalpel to misplaced opinions and puncture pomposity at twenty paces.

Any male unwise enough to make an ill-judged comment about a woman's place would soon be sent reeling from a stinging put-down.

After a long illness, she was determined to repay some of the debt she felt she owed the National Health Service. For Margaret, there was one obvious way to do it. She became a press officer for the Northwest Thames Health Authority, and later set up the Forest Healthcare NHS Trust press office.

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It was to be her last full-time job. She began to devote more time to writing fiction. Her collection of short stories is a lasting legacy to those who valued her so greatly and who will miss her so dearly.

Margaret is survived by husband Geoff.

 

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