‘Dapper’ journalist found dead

A FORMER reporter with the Hawick News newspaper – described as a dapper and cavalier character – has died suddenly.

77 year-old Gifford Lees was found dead in his home last week, with his former newspaper saying that villagers and townsfolk have been “shocked” by the revelation.

Says the News: “A former employee of the Glasgow Herald and Scottish Daily Mail during the 1960s, Mr Lees was a talented writer whose passion for the English language this week led to him being described as a ‘wordsmith’.”

Added former Andrew Keddie, now with the nearby Southern Reporter newspaper: “Giff was a fiercely intelligent man, a real character from the old school of journalism.

“He was always dapper and a very striking man with his trademark silver grey hair, and he loved Hawick and the Borders.”

Continued Hawick News sports reporter John Slorance: “He was a colourful, cavalier character who knew Hawick and its people well, and Hawick and its people knew Giff.”