Martin Lawson: a tribute to former Leighton Buzzard editor who was the youngest editor in the country
Tributes have been paid to former Leighton Buzzard editor Martin Lawson who died this month.
Martin, who died suddenly at the age of 76, was an award-winning journalist and newspaper editor who made a significant contribution to the local community throughout his adult life.
He started as a junior reporter on the Rugby Advertiser, but his talent soon took him north again to the Doncaster Evening News and then to the Sheffield Morning Telegraph, where he became a features writer.
In 1974, he was appointed deputy editor of the Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire Observer at Leighton Buzzard, becoming the youngest editor in Britain two years later, a post he held for three years before returning to Warwickshire at the Leamington Courier as editor in 1979.
A former colleague said: “Martin was an extraordinary man. He deserves to be remembered as a titan of local news.
"His contribution to regional journalism has been enormous and it was a privilege to have worked with him.”
He told great stories about his encounters, including meeting Queen Elizabeth II at Warwick Castle, and being seated next to Margaret Thatcher at a dinner event.
Born in Dundee in 1948, to Wing Commander Edward Lawson and Mrs Betty Lawson (nee Soutar) his father’s career in the RAF saw him and his elder brother Barry, move dozens of times across the UK and abroad, including spending time as a teenager in the Yemen in the Middle East.
His first brush with journalism came soon after birth, when he hit the headlines as the first baby boy in Scotland to be given pioneering full blood transfusion treatment, for the otherwise potentially fatal rhesus disease.
His staunch belief in fairness and the rights of the common man, was demonstrated from school age with a successful campaign to abolish the right of sixth formers to cane pupils at his boarding school, King Edward VI Grammar School in Louth.
It was also here that his love of sport was formed, and he captained both the school tennis and football teams.
He took on a number of additional management responsibilities for EMAP and then Johnston Press over the subsequent years, becoming Group Editor and winning several awards for The Courier.
He retired as Editor of the Leamington Courier in 2010.
A proud Scotsman, he often wore his kilt for special occasions, including weddings and Burns Night festivities, even after his career took him south of the border to Rugby, where he met and married his lifelong partner Eileen in 1971. They went on to have three children and six grandchildren.
As a literary man, he devoured books, theatre and films, as well as having a passion for newspapers and journalism.
He volunteered throughout his life in a number of guises – as a school governor and at hundreds of village events and fundraisers.
At the time of his death he and Eileen were committee members of the Leamington & Warwick branch of Cancer Research and an active member of Action Medical Research, of which Eileen was a founder member of the Ryton-on-Dunsmore branch, more than 40 years ago.
His love of travel took him and Eileen across the globe, enabling him to indulge in his passion for exploring other cultures and their foods – expanding his excellent culinary skills at home.
Above all else, his passion and joy was his family. He was always there to help, and was relied on by many across the extended family for advice and support; which he always gave with great thought, care and sensitivity.
He loved nothing more than spending long evenings at the dining table, glass of wine in hand, debating, or telling and listening to stories and jokes.
He is survived by Eileen, his three children, James, Rachel and Tom, grandchildren, Harriet, Madeline, Jonty, Beatrix, Eleanor and Georgia, and his brother Barry.