Paul Bach

Paul Bach
Born (1938-11-13)13 November 1938
Forest Gate, London, England
Died 18 September 2011(2011-09-18) (aged 72)
Occupation Magazine editor
Years active 1955 to 2002

Paul Bach (born Paul George Roger Bach on 13 November 1938 in Forest Gate in London – died on 18 September 2011) was a regional press journalist and editor, at one time the editor-in-chief of the Celtic Press group and group editor of the Stratford Express series of newspapers, and the founder-editor of Saga Magazine, which, under his editorship, became for a time Britain's largest-circulation monthly magazine.

Working life

Straight from leaving school Bach went into journalism, working as a reporter on a local weekly newspaper. He went on to edit and work for several local and regional newspapers in various parts of England and Wales.[1] While he was News Editor at the Merthyr Express, the newspaper won the Hannen Swaffer award in 1967 for its coverage of the Aberfan disaster of 1966.[1][2]

In 1979 Bach began working for then family-owned Saga Holidays, joining the company as editor of Saga News. He transformed it into the monthly Saga Magazine, launched in 1984.[3] As its founder-editor, he grew it within a decade into the biggest-selling monthly magazine in Britain, overtaking Reader's Digest, as its circulation grew to 1.25 million.

Bach described the magazine as general interest rather than "grey".[4] Under his leadership, major political figures like Lord Carrington,[5] Margaret Thatcher,[6] Mo Mowlam[7] and former US Senator George Mitchell[8] were interviewed for the magazine, and Her Majesty The Queen invited it on a royal away-day.[9] Leading writers such as Paul Lewis,[10] Michael Parkinson, Clement Freud and Keith Waterhouse[11] provided contributions, and celebrities such as Raquel Welch, Sir Cliff Richard,[12] Sting,[13] Twiggy, Pierce Brosnan, Anita Roddick,[14] Kevin Keegan,[4]Goldie Hawn and (controversially) Mick Jagger[15][16] appeared on the cover.[17] Under Bach the magazine was among the first to campaign for the preservation of the English village, calling on the UK government to stop the closure of rural banks and post offices.

In 2001 Bach co-edited "My Story 1: Memoirs of Everyday Life from the Readers of Saga Magazine"[18] and "My Story 2: Further Memoirs of the 20th Century from the Readers of Saga Magazine".[19]

Bach edited Saga Magazine until retiring in 2002.[20]

Personal life

Paul Bach attended Plaistow County Grammar School from 1950 to 1955. His father was a professor of languages at King's College, London.

A widower (his wife Florence having died some nine months previously), Bach died on 18 September 2011. He was survived by three sons.

References

  1. 1 2 "Obituaries: Paul Bach". The Telegraph. 16 October 2011. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
  2. ↑ "Paper that started with a bang still going strong after 146 years". WalesOnline.co.uk. 25 November 2010. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  3. ↑ "Not just for greybeards". DeepDyve, Inc. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
  4. 1 2 "Grey Media – The Age Gap". PR Week. 23 April 1999. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  5. ↑ "Ex-Nato chief criticises Kosovo campaign". BBC News. 26 August 1999. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
  6. ↑ "Thatcher is still smarting". The Free Library (Daily Record). 28 August 1998. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
  7. ↑ "Mowlam sparks royal palace row". BBC News. 27 June 2000. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
  8. ↑ "Was Mo the latest victim of The Curse of 'Saga' magazine?". The Independent. 2 July 2000. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
  9. ↑ "The Queen in her knit-your-own-monarch role". The Herald. Glasgow. 26 November 1998. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
  10. ↑ "More elderly claimants win pension rights". The Glasgow Herald. 18 February 1985. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
  11. ↑ "Grey Media Grows Up". 4 April 1997. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
  12. ↑ "Sir Cliff comes out fighting". London Evening Standard. 22 November 2001. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
  13. ↑ "Now Sting is happy to join Saga pinups". Daily Mail. 18 December 2001. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
  14. ↑ "Mick Jagger grows up". The Guardian. 22 August 2001. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  15. ↑ "Jagger upset by Saga appearance". The Guardian. 23 August 2001. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
  16. ↑ "Mick Jagger Grows Old". Wired. 23 August 2001. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
  17. ↑ "Pensioner's Pin-up". British Vogue. 23 August 2001. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
  18. ↑ Paul Bach and Will Adams, eds. (2001). My Story 1: Memoirs of Everyday Life from the Readers of Saga Magazine (Memoirs of the 20th Century SAGA Magazine series). Silver Link Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85794-142-5.
  19. ↑ Paul Bach and Will Adams, eds. (2001). My Story 2: Further Memoirs of the 20th Century from the Readers of Saga Magazine (Memoirs of the 20th Century SAGA Magazine series). Silver Link Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85794-143-2.
  20. ↑ "MEDIA BRIEFS: Appointment at Saga Magazine". PR Week. 25 January 2002. Retrieved 6 November 2011.

External links

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