He was an old school journalist whose heyday in newspapers was a very different world.
Stan Solomons, who has died aged 85, was one of journalism’s few remaining characters.
But to dismiss him solely as a journalist is to sell short a man who was so much more than that.
Stan, who lived in Fixby, may have made his name as half of a renowned freelance double act with the late Alan Cooper.
But Stan, married to Nancy for 57 years, was rooted in the Huddersfield community and was a talented bass singer and a long-standing and loyal member of Honley Male Voice Choir.
Singing was a passion in the latter part of his life and he regularly performed solo at concerts and other events until well into his 80s.
Stan, who followed the Jewish faith, also carried out voluntary work for the Bradford Reform Synagogue and he and Nancy brought comfort and friendship to the sick and those in need.
Stan rarely spoke about his charity work and donations, the extent of which only became clear after his death.
As well as covering news stories for the agency he and Alan ran together – Huddersfield-based West Riding News Service – Stan was a familiar figure in the press box at both Huddersfield Town and Halifax Town.
He reported on football and rugby league for national and local newspapers and is thought to have covered his first Huddersfield Town game 59 years ago!
Stan launched the careers of countless journalists, most notably football writer Martin Lipton, now deputy head of sport at The Sun.
Stan was delighted to watch Huddersfield Town in the Premier League this season but also had a soft spot for Halifax Town, often joking that he would “buy the club on Saturday when I’ve won the lottery.”
Born in Stepney, East London, to Jewish parents Stan went on to join the airforce and completed his National Service, serving in the former Rhodesia.
Afterwards he learned shorthand and typing and found an aptitude for shorthand. He was exceptionally fast and could write 180 words a minute at his peak. By comparison journalists today are only required to reach 100 words a minute.
He had a near ‘photographic memory’ which made shorthand virtually redundant and that was needed later as he could dictate match reports over the phone to seven or eight different newspapers, one after the other and each different to the rest.
Stan got a job as a reporter on the Surrey Mirror but had loftier ambitions.
Meanwhile in Huddersfield, Alan Cooper and the late Stanley Vaughan set up West Riding News Service when they left the Daily Mirror in February 1954.
Stanley Vaughan returned to the Mirror a few months later and Stan applied for the job, moving from Surrey in October 1954, later becoming a partner in the firm.
Like chalk and cheese in many ways, Alan and Stan built ‘West Riding’ into one of most reliable and reputable agencies in a partnership lasting 40 years.
The pair covered some of the biggest stories in West Yorkshire as well as pulling off some harmless ‘stunts’ to bring a smile to the faces of tabloid readers in the 1970s and 1980s.
One of Stan’s more creative stunts involved ‘kidnapping’ the famous Gretna Green anvil. Stan drove to Scotland, taking a couple of Huddersfield students with him, and pinched the anvil, loading it into the car and driving it to London!
Stan also had the ear of disgraced peer Lord Kagan, the Elland textile magnate famous for making the Gannex raincoat worn by Huddersfield-born Prime Minister Harold Wilson.
Lithuanian-born Kagan was jailed on theft and fraud charges in the late 1970s and served time in an open prison in North Yorkshire.
When he was released all the national press were on his tail – but Stan was the only journalist he would talk to.
The last big murder case Stan covered was the killing of teacher Eve Howells in Dalton in 1995.
Mrs Howells was found brutally battered to death with a hammer at her home and suspicion quickly fell on her husband David and their two sons, then aged 14 and 15.
Detectives put Howells up for interview by the media and Stan led the questioning, senior officers hoping that Stan’s incisive probing could illicit a breakthrough.
Howells and the boys were later convicted and Howells was jailed for life for murder.
By coincidence, the day after that murder took place Stan took a step into retirement when he sold the agency to Martin Shaw, now news editor at the Huddersfield Examiner.
Alan Cooper had retired a couple of years earlier and Martin took on the agency with Stan as mentor and trusted ally.
Martin said: “Stan was a tremendous journalist and a real character in every sense of the word. His career was nothing short of remarkable and he told me some tales that couldn’t possibly be repeated!
“He could be brilliant yet infuriating. He would defend his territory ferociously and woe betide any other freelance who encroached on his patch.
“He could be gruff on the outside but once he trusted you and let you beyond that stern exterior there wasn’t a more loving and generous man to be found anywhere.
“Stan was a one-off, a complex character. We would be laughing one minute and rowing the next but that was Stan and no-one would want him any other way.”
Stan’s family – wife Nancy, sons Andrew and Mark and their wives Helen and Amanda and grandchildren Peter, Katy and Dan and Matthew and Rebecca – have been touched by people’s response since the news of Stan’s death.
Nancy said: “Everybody knows what Stan was like but he was a kind, generous man and everybody who has written to us has said how wonderful he was.”
Stan died peacefully on March 1 at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary after a short illness.
His funeral will be held on Monday, March 26 (10.30am) at Huddersfield Crematorium.
Donations in lieu of flowers should go to Kirkwood Hospice.
Here are some tributes
Martin Lipton, deputy head of sport at The Sun, given his first job in journalism by Stan, said: “When I arrived in Huddersfield in 1989 I was a fish out of water.
“Thankfully, Stan Solomons helped me realise what a fantastic town I had arrived in – and then spent four years turning me into a journalist.
“Stan always had a breathless enthusiasm and overwhelming decency. At the same time, he was a consummate professional, who grasped the value of a story instantly and was able to frame it with perfect tone.
“More importantly, he was a fantastic man – self-deprecating, funny, informed and intelligent, as well as a devoted father and husband.
“Without Stan (and his late partner Alan Cooper) I would never have had the career which has taken me round the world many times and been first-hand witness.
“But without him I would have been a lesser man, too. And maybe that was his greatest gift, to me and many others who were lucky to learn from a master of our craft.”
Former Examiner head of news Neil Atkinson said: “I had the pleasure of working with Stan for many years, through my work with the Examiner. I first came across him and his former West Riding News colleague Alan Cooper when they joined me on the morning police calls in Huddersfield and we had some great times.
“Stan was a superb journalist; a real terrier who would not let a lead slip. But he was also a real gentleman, always polite and courteous to those who he dealt with.
He will be sadly missed by all his former colleagues.”
Long-time friend Brian Winterbottom, who worked closely with Stan at Honley Male Voice Choir, said: “Stan always had a vision and ideas for the future of the choir and he was very much a hands-on worker.
“He was opinionated and controversial but never held a grudge and everything he did was in the best interests of the choir.
“Stan was passionate about singing and he just wanted to go out and express himself in song.
“The choir has lost a very great servant and members have lost a very great friend.”
Dave Threlfall-Sykes, head of communications and marketing at Huddersfield Town, said: “Everyone at Huddersfield Town is extremely saddened to hear of Stan’s passing.
“Stan has been a welcome attendee among the press on Town match days for my entire 12-year tenure at the club, which only covers a small part of his extensive career in football media.
“As well as being very knowledgeable when it came to the game, he was always on hand to offer his opinion on the latest football story. Stan was very popular among his peers and everyone at the club.
“He’ll be sorely missed by us all on match days. Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this difficult time.”
Former Examiner sports editor John Gledhill said: “One of my abiding memories of Stan is that whatever the sporting topic he and his late partner Alan Cooper discussed they used to vociferously argue the toss about the respective merits and demerits of just about anything and everything!
“Just a snapshot of their successful news and sports agency which flourished in the pencil and notepad day and which was hugely respected – long before the advent of the ‘instant’ electronic communication we know as websites, Twitter and Facebook.
“Also, whatever the topic for discussion, Stan would always find a way of talking about his beloved Halifax Town! He was very much an ‘old school’ gentleman and one no-one could fail to respect and admire.”
