Former Guild member Murray Sandeman, a highly-respected agricultural journalist and sub-editor, whose career spanned more than five decades, passed away peacefully at the age of 88 in early September.
Stephen Howe recalls that Murray’s technical journalistic career began in the 1960s on Farmer & Stockbreeder in an era when agricultural publishing was beginning to benefit from a growing thirst for reliable information about the latest technology to boost livestock and crop production.
It was also a time when the professional roles of journalism, public relations and advertising were fully understood by those serving in the communications sector.
Few people appreciated that more than Murray during his time at the Stockbreeder, where he quickly honed his range of journalistic, technical and diplomatic skills – and in 1967 met Faith, his wife to be, who worked on the same publication.
He also developed an eye for detail and a quick sense of humour, which he carried with him throughout his career, much to the respect and admiration of his colleagues.
Murray’s career changed direction in the run-up to the time when the Stockbreeder merged with the NFU’s British Farmer magazine in 1971; it was then that he joined ICI Fertilizer Division’s public relations department, and I first met him.
He was a consummate PR man in a high-profile company, providing a range of precise technical information of value to those in the farming media.
On leaving ICI he returned to agricultural journalism with the Reed Publishing Group where I was fortunate to work alongside him – first, during his time as deputy editor of Power Farming and subsequently on Crops magazine.
He was always a meticulous professional, a loyal colleague and a diplomat during some very challenging and changing times for the farming press.
For all of that and his incredible and quick sense of humour, he will be greatly missed, and our thoughts are with his widow Faith and children Tam, Mark and Jess, as they come to terms with their loss.
Debbie Beaton, Guild member and former Crops editor, was another close colleague when Murray became sub-editor on the magazine just as it changed from tabloid to magazine format in 1990.
“I was lucky enough to inherit him from Power Farming and, as a new and inexperienced editor, I couldn’t have had better guidance,” she recalls.
His experience, agricultural knowledge and technical accuracy, gained during his time as ICI agricultural manager and press advisor to the Fertiliser Manufacturers Association, was invaluable.
Murray helped to build and maintain Crops’ reputation as a reliable source of technical information for arable farmers; and for us writers, submitting any spray or fertiliser measurements in mixed imperial and metric units (litres/acre or galls/ha) was a cardinal sin.
He was a calm and stabilising force for good, providing a paternalistic role in a team where creativity could sometimes get out of hand. He brought me and the team down to earth with charm and humour.
Murray was a kind and generous family man, incredibly proud of his three children who, through his stories, we came to know well. Equally, he took a keen interest in all of our lives, asking about our families and key events.
He worked incredibly hard – always first in the office to avoid other commuters, and his organisational skills ensured Crops never missed a deadline, even when new tech was a source of frustration, never quite delivering on its promise and Murray lost no time in vocalising that to the management.
We had a lot of fun – competing to compile the wittiest headlines and captions – and he was always up for a lunch out in Sutton and celebrating the week with a tipple every Friday afternoon from a stash in his filing cabinet!
Much to the confusion of the young sales team he would always open the door to his female colleagues – and walk on the roadside of the pavement; Murray was simply a generous and kind, true gentleman.
Emma Penny:
This is sad news. Murray was such a lovely man with a great sense of humour. He was a great colleague on Crops, though I think he couldn’t understand my mental block about apostrophes. I remember some brilliant headlines; “Thunderbugs are woe” has stuck in my mind for a long time! Thoughts with his family and friends.
Sandy Cox:
I was sorry to hear of the death of Murray Sandeman, who I often had contact with in my days at Farmers Weekly and Big Farm Weekly in the 1970s and early ’80s when he was ICI’s agricultural PR man.
He was a real gentleman and always helpful and professional in providing you with the information or the contacts within the company that you needed.
Any press event organised by Murray usually ran like clockwork, although I recall one notable exception, albeit still very successful and enjoyable, when a press group due to fly from Heathrow to Edinburgh, was informed by the pilot that the British Airways Trident was overweight and some passengers would need to go on a second aircraft. I remember Big Farm Management editor George Macpherson being very keen to get off.
Joined by members of the Scottish agricultural press, we were all taken by coach for a farm visit, and then to Perth airport to fly by light aircraft to Oban – except that Oban airport was closed due to low cloud and fog, which although forecast to clear by the time we would arrive, did not allow sufficient time to clear the runway of sheep!
Ever resourceful, Murray quickly organised road transport to Oban where we visited the Cadzow brothers, which involved a boat trip on their private ferry (an ex-military landing craft if I remember correctly), to see direct drilled turnips, something new and innovative back then. After a second night in Oban, our rather overhung group had a visit to Oban distillery before flying back to London.
Any event organised by Murray would always produce worthwhile copy, and that one was certainly memorable.
Note: A farewell and celebration of Murray Sandeman’s life for all who knew him will be held on Friday, October 17, 11.30am at All Saints’ Church, Waldron, East Sussex TN21 0RA.
