My friend and former colleague Geoffrey Battison, who has died aged 98, was a magazine journalist and editor who worked in Fleet Street in its heyday. He was also a jazz buff and drummer.
Born in Harrow, north-west
London, he was the son of William Battison and his wife, Gertrude (nee Hills). His father was a sales manager for United Glass Bottle Manufacturers. Geoffrey attended John Lyon school in Harrow on the Hill, where he helped to form the first school jazz band, playing the drums.