Roger Wood (4 October 1925 – 2 November 2012) was the editor of 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 ...
'' and ''
New York Post''.
Early life
Wood was born in
Antwerp
Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504, ,
Belgium, and spoke no English until he was seven when he moved with his family to Great Britain. He served in the
Royal Air Force in
World War II. He graduated from
Oxford University.
Daily Express
In 1962, aged 37, he became the youngest editor of 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 ...
'', succeeding
Edward Pickering, editor while Edwards was deputy editor, Wood was both preceded and succeeded by
Bob Edwards
Robert Alan "Bob" Edwards is an American broadcast journalist, a Peabody Award-winning member of the National Radio Hall of Fame. He hosted both of National Public Radio's flagship news programs, the afternoon ''All Things Considered'', and '' ...
.
New York Post
In 1975 he began working for
Rupert Murdoch and edited the weekly ''Star Magazine'' until his move to ''The New York Post''. In 1977, he became executive editor of the Post, succeeding Edwin Bolwell, six months after Murdoch bought the paper. Under Wood circulation increased from 400,000 to over a million.
The paper's "Page Six" grew in popularity for celebrity gossip. Some of the newspapers most famous headlines occurred on his watch including "Headless Body in Topless Bar" (about a murder in
Queens, New York); "Eleven Dead and the Band Played On" (about a fatal stampede at a
The Who concert in
Cincinnati, Ohio, and "Granny Executed in Her Pink Pajamas".
Wood was noted for calling men "dear boy," and women "lovely one". After leaving the Post in 1986 he was editorial director for newspapers for Murdoch's
News Corporation.
''New York Times'' obit, ibid.
/ref>
Death
Roger Wood died of cancer on 2 November 2012, aged 87 in New York City. He was survived by his wife, son and brother.
References
External links
Photo of Wood
with Giles.
1925 births
2012 deaths
Daily Express people
British expatriates in the United States
British male journalists
Belgian emigrants to the United Kingdom
Place of death missing
Deaths from cancer in New York (state)
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