A journalist who shared many of the top news stories of the 20th Century with the people of Aberdeen has celebrated his milestone 100th birthday.
Jimmy Lees started working in newspapers at just 15 years old and went on to become news editor of the Evening Express in 1975.
Born on March 12 1923 in Stonehaven, Mr Lees has spent his whole life living and working in the north-east.
As a young boy, he attended Fetteresso Primary School before completing a short stint at Mackie Academy.
He decided to leave school in 1938 to take on the role of cub reporter at the Mearns Leader where he was paid 10 shillings a week.
However, he was forced to take a break during the Second World War when he was enlisted by the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers to serve in France as a radar mechanic.
Most memorable story
The majority of Mr Lees’s journalism career was spent across The Press and Journal and the Evening Express, where he moved to in 1948.
“I was lucky to have had such an interesting job and meet so many fascinating people,” he said. “There have been many laughs and, of course, tears. But I wouldn’t change a second of it.”
One of the biggest stories he covered was the typhoid epidemic of 1964, which involved sharing the daily figures of those who had contracted the disease with readers.
“That was probably the most memorable story I ever covered,” he said. “The eyes of the world were on us.
“Every day, the Medical Officer of Health, Dr Ian MacQueen, would hold two press conferences, attended by ranks of international journalists, to give the tally of new patients, which was climbing fast – eventually reaching more than 400.
“We were called ‘the beleaguered city’, cut off from the rest of the nation. And all the while the the scientists were searching for the source of the infection. Amazingly, only three people died.”
Breaking the news
The 100-year-old was one of the reporters who had a seat in the court during the Maxwell Garvie trial at Aberdeen High Court in 1969.
Huge queues would form outside the court due to the huge public interest surrounding the sensational trial of Mr Garvie’s wife and her lover, and the associated “Kinky Cottage”.
Mr Lees and his fellow reporters would take 20-minute bursts of shorthand notes and then run to the Broad Street office to get their stories written up.
Just a few years earlier, he also reported on the 1966 collapse of the zoology building at Aberdeen University which resulted in the death of five construction workers who became trapped under the rubble.
When the newspapers relocated to the Lang Stracht in 1975, Mr Lees was promoted to news editor of the Evening Express.
He held this top role for seven years, overseeing a team of 20 reporters, before retiring in 1982 – just as computers were replacing typewriters.
“It was indeed an exciting career,” he said. “You never knew what was going to happen from one day to the next. Some of it involved harrowing and tragic stories. But others could be quite a laugh. I enjoyed every second of it.”
Celebrating 100 years
Mr Lees married his wife, Phyllis Lees, in 1961 and the pair lived together in their Burniboozle home until her death in 2014.
The 100-year-old now resides in sheltered housing at Broomhill Park where he celebrated his milestone birthday with a tea party on Monday.
Residents and staff packed into the part room which was lined with balloons and banners to mark the special day.
They all enjoyed an array of homemade bakes, sandwiches and a special 100th birthday cake while Mr Lees opened gifts and handwritten cards.
John Booth, VSA interim chief executive paid a visit to the home for the celebration as did honorary president Fiona Kennedy who led the room in a lively rendition of the Northern Lights of Aberdeen.
He has also received many birthday messages from the reporters he mentored over the years.
Former Evening Express reporter Alison Shaw said: “As a boss he was courteous and compassionate – not just to his staff but to the subjects of the stories he oversaw. He had covered a huge range of stories himself and still has amazing recall.
“He’s sharp as a tack and can tell you in astonishing detail about court cases and individuals that were in the news 60 or 70 years ago. Just brilliant.”
Conversation