I was amused at Garth Gibbs’ story about his time as a sub on the
old London Evening News when he changed the name of Derek Ezra, the
Coal Board chairman, to Ezra Pound on a splash (Press Gazette, 4
March). It was my by-lined story about the NUM calling the strike,
which ultimately led to the downfall of the Heath Government in 1974.
Garth’s
mental aberration had even more bizarre implications than he recalls.
The error WAS spotted, but only just after the print run had begun for
the lunchtime edition. It was taken so seriously that the presses were
stopped, and the word Pound was literally hammered out on the metal
plate (ancient technology).
Ezra’s opening quote was therefore
attributed to Mr Ezra followed by a blurred gap. It was only hammered
at the top of the story, so throughout the rest of my piece there were
references to a mystery ‘Mr Pound’.
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