My aunt, Moira Paterson, who has died aged 85, moved from a small town in Scotland to pursue a career in publishing and journalism that included stints in Geneva and Jerusalem and work as a subeditor and features writer with the Radio Times and the Observer in London.
She was born near Crossmichael in Kirckcudbrightshire, to Margaret (nee McHargh), a nurse, and John, an electrician with ICI whose job took the family to live in Yorkshire. Her father was a progressive-minded man who wanted the best for his two daughters, and after passing the 11-plus Moira went to Heckmondwike grammar school followed by the University of Durham, where she studied English.
She then worked in London for the poetry publisher Faber & Faber, where TS Eliot was a director. When he brought the female staff members a cake as a gift of thanks, she was so annoyed at how “pink and girly” it was that she resolved to leave.
She moved to Geneva to work for the art publisher Skira in the early 1960s and then to Jerusalem, first to live on a kibbutz (where she was looking for an adventure, following the breakup of a long relationship) and later to work as an editor of the Encyclopaedia Judaica. Although she was a Scottish atheist, Moira’s ability to grasp the intricacies of Jewish lore was testimony to her intellect and perseverance.
She returned to London in the 70s, working as a subeditor and occasional features writer on the Radio Times, where the poet Roger Woddis wrote a verse to celebrate her strong trade unionism, her pride in her Scots background and her sometimes fierce exterior that belied a warm and humorous interior:
O our Moira’s like a red, red flag
That flutters in the breeze
And nae mair like a willing slave
Than chalk resembles cheese.
Later she was a subeditor at the Observer and the Independent, also contributing features to both newspapers. She retired in 1996 and moved back to Scotland to live in Wigtown near her sister, my mother, Rennie Hughes. She remained fiercely independent until 2017, when she went into a care home.
She is survived by three nephews, John, James and me.
