Obituary: Patrick Garrow

Patrick Garrow, journalist, born Edinburgh 1914, married Gertrude Abraham (deceased; one daughter), died Esher Surrey 12 February 1993.

PATRICK GARROW was one of the best-loved sporting journalists of his time.

After being educated at the George Watson College, Edinburgh, Garrow joined the Scotsman as a cub reporter, working his way up to junior and, finally, chief sports writer on the Scotsman Group and a number of other Scottish newspapers, covering mainly boxing matches. Subsequently his loves embraced cricket and football as well as tennis. Throughout his career he wrote about rugby union and football.

During the Second World War Garrow served abroad in the Royal Artillery, reaching the rank of captain; his service career including editing the Baghdad Times. At war's end his base was London instead of Edinburgh and Glasgow, but he picked up where he left off in writing as roving correspondent for the Scotsman. He was in addition London Editor for the Edinburgh Evening Despatch and worked in public relations for a branch of the civil service.

Although he was still writing mainly about big sporting events worldwide during the Seventies, his 'brief' became wider still as the decade went on and he would write bracing nautical pieces for Navy News and amusing pieces bearing the indelible Garrow stamp for both the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror. In the Eighties he covered the Commonwealth Games and Test Matches in Australia, for the Scotsman and the Glasgow Herald. He also wrote scintillating pieces for Boxing News. Prize-fighting, as he called 'the noble art', was after cricket and football his favourite sport, although towards the end of his life he would occasionally regret (for he rarely grumbled) that 'certain all-powerful boxing promoters and trainers around nowadays made the art a lot less noble'.

Garrow was wholeheartedly two things: a Scot and a newspaperman. In the latter capacity he was a great sporting character himself, noted for his Glaswegian voice (although he hailed from Edinburgh), his distinctive wide-brimmed hats, nicknamed 'The Glengarrow', and picturesque bow ties of all shapes and large sizes. He was an affable eccentric.

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