One of Fleet Street's most popular journalists, Dina Akass, née Malik, died last week following a long illness.
Akass, 46, made her name during the late 1980s and early 1990s as a news reporter on a number of national tabloids, including the Sun, News of the World, the People, Daily Star and Today.
Paying tribute to Akass, the Daily Mirror editor, Richard Wallace, who worked with her when he was showbiz editor at the Sun, said: "It is no exaggeration to say she was one of the most good-hearted individuals you could ever care to meet and her sunny disposition and sheer joie de vivre were truly life-affirming."
Akass was born in Tripoli to an English mother and Sudanese father. The family left Libya when Muammar Gadafy came to power and Akass arrived in England aged eight, spending the rest of her childhood in Kent.
After school she joined the renowned Fleet Street News Agency. It was during this time that she met her future husband, Bill Akass, who was working for the rival National News Agency.
Akass was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1998. She gave birth to her second son, Max, the following year – her first son Callum was born in 1994 – and returned to work for the now defunct Mirror magazine The Look, juggling work, motherhood and her illness with humour and determination.
She also freelanced for women's magazines including Bella, Best, TV Quick, Woman's Own.
The Daily Mirror associate editor Peter Willis, who edited The Look, recalled: "Dina had a fantastic spirit. She was genuine, upbeat – even at the onset of her illness – and could get the most unlikely people to talk to her."
Akass's condition deteriorated in recent weeks and she died at Highgate nursing home, close to her home in North London.
Her husband, Bill – a former Mirror reporter and now editorial development director for News Group Newspapers – invites her friends and former colleagues to her funeral at Golders Green crematorium, Hoop Lane, London NW11 at 4pm on Thursday, May 22.
After the service, mourners are invited to gather at the Victoria Stakes pub, Park Road in Crouch End. Flowers and cards may be sent to the funeral directors, William Beckett, at 29 Junction Road, Archway, London N19 5QT.
Donations to the MS Society in memory of Dina are welcome: MS Society, MS National Centre, 372 Edgware Road, London NW2 6ND.
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