Former Daily Mirror stalwart Christine Garbutt has died from complications after surgery. She was 69.
Garbutt began her Fleet Street career on Hugh Cudlipp’s Daily Mirror in 1956 at the age of 18.
In the Seventies she was one of the first women to write a column on the sports pages of the Mirror, and in 1976 she became the assistant to the paper’s legendary agony aunt Marje Proops, drafting much of the copy which appeared under the famous name.
She went on to write features and reviews and also worked on the diary under Peter McKay.
She was said to have taken the news badly when she was made redundant from the paper in 1997.
Among those keen to pay tribute to her this week was former Mirror colleague Alastair Campbell.
He said: ‘Christine was a tough-minded, intelligent and plain-speaking journalist of the old school. She was also a great support to my partner Fiona when we started out in national newspapers.”
Her funeral will be held at St Joseph’s Church, Highgate, north London, on 14 September. Donations can be made to the Great Ormond Street charity Children With Leukaemia.
A full obituary will appear in next week’s Press Gazette.
Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog