ONE of Kent's best-known journalists in the 1980s and 1990s, Peter Walker, has died of a heart attack. He was 72.

Mr Walker's funeral is being held at Chichester Crematorium at 1pm on Wednesday, November 12, and afterwards at the Ramada Jarvis Hotel.

Donations towards the planting of a tree in his memory should be sent to Reynolds and Co Ltd, 31 High Street, Bognor Regis, West Sussex, PO21 1RR (telephone 01243 864745).

Mr Walker, a sometimes blunt Northerner, was regarded by fellow journalists as a "real character" as well as a fine wordsmith.

For many years he worked for the KM Group's Kent Evening Post, forerunner of Medway Today and the Medway Messenger.

He joined the paper in the 1980s after a spell in Fleet Street. Previously, he made a career in Jamaica where he was a leading radio presenter with celebrity status.

But when Michael Manley - a politician he knew well - became Prime Minister, Mr Walker left left Jamaica, which under tough new exchange laws, meant leaving all his assets as well.

As the Evening Post's chief reporter and news editor he encouraged many young journalists and wrote a weekly column that delighted in outraging those of a more politically correct outlook.

Trevor Sturgess, a close friend and the KM Group's business editor, said: "PC was not Peter’s strong point. He loved women but unashamedly liked them to be feminine, not feminist.

"He respected traditional British values and was never comfortable with the contemporary boorish climate. He struggled to come to terms with new technology and took some time to switch from his trusty typewriter to a word processor.

"He spoke fluent French and undertook many assignments for Rendezvous, the pioneering Kent Messenger Group publication that looked at what was happening on the other side of the Channel.

"Peter was from that old school of journalism that believed the best story leads came from the pub. He knew regulars, barmaids, landlords and the local characters, all great sources of big stories.

"Like many of the old school he drank hard and smoked too much. He was rarely without a cigarette and it was easy to imagine his character in The Front Page movie about newspaper life in the "old days". But he could write like a dream and in his prime was one of the paper's finest writers.

"He enjoyed the business beat and contributed articles to the KMG monthly Kent Business. Every year, he profiled firms entering the Medway Small Business awards transforming apparently humdrum businesses into fascinating reads.

"He had a fund of unusual and memorable expressions that newsroom colleagues dubbed "Walkerspeak".

"Gravel-farming "was his term for finding stories. 'Don't leave me lonely' was a gentle reminder to reporters to keep in touch with the desk.

"After retirement, he did freelance work to make ends meet. His latter years were marked by ill health and numerous operations in Medway hospitals.

"The nurses were a consolation. However ill he was, he always managed to charm them but he hated mixed wards. He once escaped to the nearest pub, dragging his drip machine with him.

"Peter moved to Spain for a while but ill-health forced him back to England and a flat in Bognor Regis."

Mr Walker leaves two sisters and many nieces and nephews who thought highly of their "Uncle Pete".

Trevor Sturgess added: “I shall miss a good friend and an inspirational journalist with a wealth of wisdom. He was an entertaining companion with a fund of amusing anecdotes.

“Sure, he could be cantankerous, but he was an unforgettable character who made people look at life and the craft of journalism in exciting new ways.”