More thrills than skills – A half-life in journalism, part 21

Over the next few weeks, allmediascotland.com is to publish, each weekday, edited extracts from the memoirs of Scottish war correspondent, Paul Harris. ‘More thrills than skills: A half-life in journalism’, is being scheduled for publication next year.

SOON, Jeremy Thompson arrives and I am, of course, now a back number in the glamorous world of broadcasting.

He is generous in his thanks for what I’ve done for Sky but that’s it.

There is a full crew on the scene, a star broadcaster and no room left for yours truly and his breathless style of reporting. I’m not really bothered. The best of the story has now been and gone, in my view.

But I can afford to be generous. I take Sky and WTN (Worldwide Television News) up to meet the Kleebs.

They put on their usual, star performance. Robert Kleeb has a great way with words from his isolated villa with the volcano spewing ash behind him.

He refuses to believe the prophets of doom.