Syers Sam

Sam Syers

 

Born Colin Paul Syers in Edgware, London, he was the youngest of three sons of John, a tool and clockmaker, and Rose. He acquired the nickname Sam at Kingsbury grammar.

 

From schooldays, his political interest was intense, joining the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and then, inspired by a speech from Jimmy Reid (see separate entry), the Young Communist League.

 

After leaving school, he joined the Greater London council’s street-naming section.  Sam met his wife, Themi, at a dance after they had attended a CND march in 1967 and they married six months later.

 

His politics and interest in journalism led to him joining the Morning Star as a subeditor around this time, when he also joined the Communist Party. But he drifted away from the Party some time after he joined the Hampstead & Highgate Express in north London on 4th January 1971 as a sub-editor, rapidly being promoted to chief subeditor, eventually becoming deputy editor until emphysema forced his retirement at the age of 54.

 

He died at the age of 67 in 2011.

 

Guardian 2nd November 2011