George Stafford Gale (22 October 1927 – 3 November 1990) was a British journalist who was editor of the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

political magazine ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

'' from 1970 to 1973.

Life

The son of George Pyatt Gale, a clerk in the National Insurance Audit Department and second lieutenant in the

Royal Northumberland Fusiliers The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers was an infantry regiment of the British Army. Raised in 1674 as one of three 'English' units in the Dutch Anglo-Scots Brigade, it accompanied William III to England in the November 1688 Glorious Revolution an ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and Annie Watson (née Wood), Gale was descended from the Gale family of Scruton Hall,

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

; he was raised a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

. Gale was educated at the independent

Royal Grammar School, Newcastle (By Learning, You Will Lead) , established = , closed = , type = Grammar SchoolIndependent day school , religion = , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Geoffrey Stanford , r_head_label = , r_head = , chair_label = , cha ...

, and Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he graduated with a double-first in history.Dennis Griffiths (ed.) ''The Encyclopedia of the British Press 1422–1992'', London and Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1992, p.257 He also studied at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

, retaining an interest in German philosophy throughout his life. In 1951 he joined the '' Manchester Guardian'' as a leader writer and reporter on Labour Affairs. In 1955 he moved to the '' Daily Express'' where he remained until 1967 (he returned there 1976–86) when he joined the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print c ...

'' for three years until he took up the position at ''The Spectator''. His time at ''The Spectator'' is best remembered for his support of

Enoch Powell John Enoch Powell, (16 June 1912 – 8 February 1998) was a British politician, classical scholar, author, linguist, soldier, philologist, and poet. He served as a Conservative Member of Parliament (1950–1974) and was Minister of Health (1 ...

and his appointment of

Peter Ackroyd Peter Ackroyd (born 5 October 1949) is an English biographer, novelist and critic with a specialist interest in the history and culture of London. For his novels about English history and culture and his biographies of, among others, William ...

as its literary critic. After

Auberon Waugh Auberon Alexander Waugh (17 November 1939 – 16 January 2001) was an English journalist and novelist, and eldest son of the novelist Evelyn Waugh. He was widely known by his nickname "Bron". After a traditional classical education at Downsid ...

changed Gale's name in the published list of contributors to either "Lunchtime O'Booze" or "Lunchtime O'Gale" (accounts vary, but "Lunchtime O'Booze" is the '' Private Eye'' term for the archetypal drunken

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

), Waugh was sacked from ''The Spectator'' by its then editor

Nigel Lawson Nigel Lawson, Baron Lawson of Blaby, (born 11 March 1932) is a British Conservative Party politician and journalist. He was a Member of Parliament representing the constituency of Blaby from 1974 to 1992, and served in the cabinet of Margaret ...

. Gale, ironically, invited Waugh back after he had become editor. He also enjoyed a long stint as a columnist on the '' Daily Express'' and in the mid-1980s was a regular panellist on the revived version of television's ''

What's My Line ''What's My Line?'' is a panel game show that originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, originally in black and white and later in color, with subsequent U.S. revivals. The game uses celebrity panelis ...

''. Gale's fondness for alcohol was also reflected in ''Private Eye's'' habit of referring to him as "George G. Ale". In 1987 Gale called for the recriminalisation of homosexual relations, stating: "Aids should be made a notifiable disease and buggery, almost certainly the main way of transmitting it, should once more become a criminal offence.” This was in the context of the then rampant AIDS epidemic. Gale also presented a morning phone-in programme from 1973 until about 1976 for

LBC LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed commercial radio station, and began to broadca ...

, a commercial radio station in London. In 1951 Gale married his first wife, Patricia, daughter of cable manufacturer Charles Francis Holley and later the wife of the historian

Maurice Cowling Maurice John Cowling (6 September 1926 – 24 August 2005) was a British historian and a Fellow of Peterhouse, Cambridge. Early life Cowling was born in West Norwood, South London, son of Reginald Frederick Cowling (1901–1962), a patent agen ...

. There were four sons of their 32-year marriage. His second wife was Mary Dillon-Malone, formerly film critic at the ''Daily Mirror''.Who was Who vol. VIII 1981-1990, A. & C. Black, p. 274

References

1927 births 1990 deaths Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge British male journalists English magazine editors The Spectator editors {{UK-journalist-stub