Michael Davie (15 January 1924 – 7 December 2005) was a British journalist. Born in

Cranleigh Cranleigh is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Waverley, Surrey, England. It lies southeast of Guildford on a minor road east of the A281, which links Guildford with Horsham. It is in the north-west corner ...

, Surrey, Davie was the last of three children born to the head of a firm of stockbrokers. He was educated at Haileybury and

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...

, where he began reading English, but after war service in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

, returned to study History. Before he graduated, Davie was offered a job as diplomatic correspondent by

David Astor Francis David Langhorne Astor (5 March 1912 – 7 December 2001) was an English newspaper publisher, editor of ''The Observer'' at the height of its circulation and influence, and member of the Astor family, "the landlords of New York". Early ...

, editor of ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'', but the post had been filled by the time he had left Oxford University. After a brief period at the ''

Manchester Evening News The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 20 ...

'', he joined ''The Observer'' in 1950 as religious correspondent. Davie subsequently became the newspaper's news editor, sports writer and editor of the colour supplement when it was first published in 1965. Close to Astor, he was appointed deputy editor of the newspaper, a position he retained until 1969. He then returned to writing, still on ''The Observer'' staff, where he edited the 'Notebook' feature. Davie was the editor of the diaries of novelist

Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires ''Decli ...

; the volume appeared in 1976. That year he won the '' What the Papers Say'' 'Journalist of the Year' Award. In 1977, he settled in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia, where he became Associate Editor of ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'', becoming the newspaper's editor in 1979, a post he retained until returning to London and ''The Observer'' in 1981 for the remainder of his career. Davie retired in 1988. Following his retirement, he wrote a biography of the press baron

Lord Beaverbrook William Maxwell Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook (25 May 1879 – 9 June 1964), was a Canadian-British newspaper publisher and backstage politician who was an influential figure in British media and politics of the first half of the 20th century ...

with his wife which was published in 1992. His other books include a study of President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

''LBJ'' (1966); ''In the Future Now'' (1972), a contemporary account of the social changes and sun-rise industries in California; ''The Titanic'' (1986) and (with his son Simon) ''The Faber Book of Cricket'' (1987). His final completed book was ''Anglo-Australian Attitudes'' published in 2000. Michael Davie married twice, his wife from 1975 was the writer and journalist Anne Chisholm. With his first wife (Robin Atherton) he had a son and two daughters, and an adopted son (who predeceased him) with his second. Davie died in December 2005 in

Ewelme Ewelme () is a village and civil parish in the Chiltern Hills in South Oxfordshire, northeast of the market town of Wallingford. The 2011 census recorded the parish's population as 1,048. To the east of the village is Cow Common and to ...

, Oxfordshire.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davie, Michael 1924 births 2005 deaths Alumni of Merton College, Oxford British male journalists The Age (Melbourne) people People educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College