Posh hankies and the popular touch
REG CUSDIN was a journalist for almost 50 years and freelanced for nearly every UK national newspaper in a career that began as a ten-shilling-a-week junior reporter on the Dimbleby Group’s Richmond and Twickenham Times (RTT) in 1943 at the age of 16.
It was there he discovered that “hanging out in small cafes” and making friends with taxi drivers was the best way to get the local news. He never lost the art of befriending the man in the street even though he went on to mix with celebrities and royalty.
After war service he returned to the RTT and in 1951 went to the Middlesex Chronicle where he was chief reporter and news editor. In 1972 he moved on to the London Evening News and secured many scoops from Heathrow, including the first time tanks and troops moved into the airport in 1974.
He interviewed and counted among his friends celebrities including Elizabeth Taylor, Sofia Loren and Hugh Heffner of the Playboy empire. He was a snappy dresser with his matching ties and pocket handkerchiefs, but his much-loved old Ford Zodiac was often seen parked outside his favourite fish and chip shop in Hounslow.
When the Evening News closed he set up a news agency, Newsflash, supplying Fleet Street with Heathrow stories ranging from celebrity weddings to airport strikes.
Reg Cusdin reluctantly retired at 65 and closed down Newsflash, but he still hung out in the cafes he loved.
Francis Aldridge