Peter Willis (25 December 1966 – 25 June 2021) was a British journalist and newspaper editor. Born in London, Willis grew up in

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...

, Manchester and then

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.

. There, he was educated at Buxton College, and presented a hospital radio show at the

Devonshire Royal Hospital The Devonshire Royal Hospital was established as the Devonshire Hospital in 1859 in Buxton, Derbyshire by the Buxton Bath Charity for the treatment of the poor. The hospital was built in the converted stable block of The Crescent. The building ...

. At the age of 18, he began working for the ''

Manchester Evening News The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 201 ...

''. Willis later worked for '' The Sun'', the '' Daily Star'' and the ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

'', becoming known for his celebrity reporting. In 1997, he moved to 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 ...

'', as the first editor of its Saturday magazine, ''The Look''. He then served for many years as features editor of the newspaper, and founded the

Pride of Britain Awards The Pride of Britain Awards is an annual award ceremony which has taken place in the United Kingdom since May 1999 and first televised on ITV in April 2000. The awards honour British people who have acted bravely or extraordinarily in challeng ...

. In 2012, Willis was appointed editor of the ''Mirror'', serving until 2018, when he moved to become editor of the ''

Sunday Mirror The ''Sunday Mirror'' is the Sunday sister paper of the ''Daily Mirror''. It began life in 1915 as the ''Sunday Pictorial'' and was renamed the ''Sunday Mirror'' in 1963. In 2016 it had an average weekly circulation of 620,861, dropping marke ...

'' and the '' Sunday People''. He died suddenly on 25 June 2021, at the age of 54.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Willis, Peter 1966 births 2021 deaths English journalists English newspaper editors Journalists from London