David Randall, a former assistant editor of the Observer, has died aged 70. He passed away at his desk working on a new edition of his book Suburbia, his chronicle of life growing up in the suburbs which was praised for its amusing insight into what really went on behind the often-closed (but not always net) curtains of the nation’s semi-detacheds.
Randall, who is survived by his wife Pam, four sons, Guy, Paul, Simon and Tom and four grandchildren, was born in Ipswich, Suffolk, in 1951.
His introduction to journalism came while studying economics at Cambridge when he was invited to write for the university’s student newspaper Varsity by its editor, Jeremy Paxman. He contributed to the weekly column The Adventures of Druisilla Nutt-Tingler.
After a brief spell as a professional comedian and a marketing manager for a cosmetics company – two experiences he would later insist were easily confused, he joined the Croydon Advertiser in 1974 as a trainee reporter. After working in a variety of roles he rose to become, in 1980, the editor of the paper, which then boasted the largest circulation local weekly in Britain.
He combined his day job with freelancing for national newspapers in Fleet Street in the evenings and weekends. This included a period writing picture captions for the infamous Sun page 3, an experience he later said taught him how to tell a story in very few words and that every word should count.
In 1981 he joined the Observer as deputy sports editor.
He later became assistant to the editor, Donald Trelford, and was involved in the paper’s evolution from old hot metal printing to new journalistic direct input. In 1987 he spent time in the US studying editorial computer systems before returning to Britain to help oversee its transfer to the new production technology.
After leaving the Observer in 1993 he ran the national Rwanda appeal for the Disasters Emergency Committee which raised more than £30m to help survivors of the genocide that befell the east African country.
He went on to advise several newspapers around the world on new technology and presentation and design including the Sunday Standard in Kenya, and the Moscow Times in Russia.
He taught journalism in Africa for the British Council, and Russia and Central Asia for the EU. These experiences led to the writing, in 1996, of The Universal Journalist, a journalism text book which continues to be widely used by trainee journalists and is published in five languages around the world.
He later joined the Independent newspaper as a senior editorial executive before retiring to pursue his hobbies of golf, gardening and writing books.