He did it his way

Abstract

The Hon. David Astor, CH, who edited The Observer from 1948 till 1975, died on December 6 last year aged 89. He was one of Fleet Street's remarkable editors; a man of exceptional integrity in his journalism and his personal conduct. The Astor family then owned the paper and David was handed control of it by his father. In those 27 years David Astor carved out a memorable monument to outstanding, unorthodox, journalism—and himself. John Cole, who worked with him, reflects below on that Astor monument.