Andrew Pike dies

ANDREW PIKE, the Independent on Sunday's first advertisement manager, died suddenly last week aged 40.

His career in newspapers spanned nearly 20 years; he started work at the Sunday Telegraph; he later moved to the Daily Mirror, and he joined the Independent when it launched in 1986.

Andrew was a member of the management team that started the paper and his enthusiasm and professionalism were central both to the Independent's success and to the success of the Independent on Sunday, which he helped open in 1990. He left the paper last year and joined another newspaper, USA Today, as Advertisement Director.

Andrew Pike often said that he believed in "work hard, play hard". It made him a pleasure to work with. Peter Wilby, editor of the Independent on Sunday, said: "This paper has had many ups and downs. But, whatever happened, Andrew was unfailingly cheerful and positive. Everyone who works for or reads the paper owes him a lot; without him, the newspaper would never have been born."

He will be missed by his many friends both in journalism and in the advertising world. He leaves a wife of three years, Annie.

The funeral will be held at noon on Wednesday 14 June, at the Marylebone Crematorium, Finchley, north London.