WARM, intelligent, generous, thoughtful and honest, Len Tingle had these and many more qualities.
A top class journalist and broadcaster, Len died this week after a year long fight with stomach cancer.
Len, 63, who lived in Huddersfield but was brought up in Cudworth near Barnsley, was a familiar face on Look North and Sunday Politics.
His television career began at Central TV in 1981, before joining the BBC in 1989 as a business presenter in London.
He moved to Leeds as business and industry correspondent before taking up the role of political editor in 2001.
I first met him when I arrived at the Yorkshire Post in 2000 and we would often see each other at business events or take part in ‘meet the media’ panels.
Then he moved on to political reporting and I saw him less but it was always a highlight to bump into him.
He was a regular reader of my blogs – something I took as a huge compliment – but it was Len who used to lavish the praise.
In February he dropped me a line to say how much he enjoyed the blog, said he was glad to see I was doing well and ended his email with the words: “Couldn’t happen to a nicer bloke.”
Coming from Len that really meant something.
I suggested we catch up over a cuppa in the near future.
He replied with even more kind words:
“What a great story about the student you helped break into the video journalism business. I’ve tried to keep in touch with all the work experience students who have spent time with me over the years and some of them have been incredibly successful.
“Also thanks for sharing your “cuddle a kangaroo” ambition …it’s a revealed a whole new Parkin!
“I’m afraid we might have to postpone our cuppa…I’ve been off ill for several months having chemotherapy treatment for stomach cancer and I’m still a bit on the poorly side…. but I’m sure it will happen.”
He sent me that email a month ago.
And sadly our cuppa won’t now happen.
But I and everyone who knew Len are left with lots of warm memories of a wonderful man.
And if we can all be a bit more like Len then the world will be the better for it.
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IT was announced this week that global law firm Reed Smith has selected Leeds for a new legal and business services hub.
Reed Smith Global Solutions will be based in the city’s Platform building and, according to the PR blurb “aims to provide a creative environment for lawyers, analysts and business services professionals to work alongside each other to find new approaches to problem solving”.
And fee charging.
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THE Yorkshire Vet has been an outstanding success on TV for Channel 5 with its winning combination of beautiful scenery, cute animals and a likeable character in vet Julian Norton.
Clearly its popularity has prompted the channel to commission more programmes based in Yorkshire.
And why not?
Well because they don’t have the ingredients for success that the Yorkshire Vet has for a start.
There was one about Christmas shopping in Harrogate that tried to make the town’s festive lights switch on into a cliffhanger.
Then this week there was something called Housing Yorkshire which I didn’t watch and Channel 5 don’t bother to give a synopsis of on its website.
And when you finally thought they might have run out of ideas they wheeled out former deputy prime minister John Prescott to present a programme called Made in Yorkshire.
Pugilistic Prescott visited great Yorkshire food producers like Heck sausages and Whitaker’s Chocolates.
The low point of the show was Prezza on the production line trying to put Whitaker’s famous mint chocolates into boxes.
It was painful.
Given a toddler wearing boxing gloves would have had more success you might have thought the former politician would have made a joke out of it.
But he lacks much of a sense of humour and so the whole scene just went down as cringe-worthy TV.
I was hoping vet Julian might arrive to give Prezza a dose of ketamine.
Now that would make good TV.
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I THINK I need to get out more.
I also have been watching the ITV show Last Laugh in Vegas.
The premise is simple enough: take a group of British showbiz veterans like Cannon & Ball, Bernie Clifton, Su Pollard, Bobby Crush and Kenny Lynch and get them to put on a show on the Las Vegas strip.
In charge of this motley crew is Las Vegas producer Frank Marino, a man who appears have visited the same cosmetic surgeon as Michael Jackson.
Our “stars” are put up in a mansion and put through their paces by Frank, but not before squabbling over who is having which bedroom and reminiscing about their days headlining stage and screen.
They are a pretty likeable, if quirky, bunch and footage of Cannon & Ball’s trumpet sketch and Bernie Clifton riding his ostrich don’t give the viewer too much confidence that they are going to take Vegas by storm.
Confronted by Bernie on his ostrich for the first time, Frank Marino declared: “Is that chicken drunk?”
He clearly wasn’t brought up watching The Good Old Days or Summertime Special.
Entrepreneur Mike Firth, who put on the Yorkshire International Business Convention for many years, always says that booking Cannon & Ball was his biggest mistake.
But given he also brought George Bush, Colin Powell, Rudy Giuliani and Mikhail Gorbachev to speak in Yorkshire, I think we can forgive him.
The mansion that the Last Laugh in Vegas cast are staying in reminded me of one I visited a few years ago.
Leeds-born businessman Dominic Marrocco bought Mike Tyson’s house and I flew out to interview him at his new flashy address.
His neighbours included the Sultan of Brunei and veteran Vegas showman Wayne Newton.
Unlike in many places, the most expensive real estate in Las Vegas is situated very close to the airport.
So as we chatted beside the swimming pool, surrounded by an imitation volcano with a slide through the middle, jets roared overhead bringing the next group of wide-eyed fun seekers into Vegas.
And taking them home, a little poorer, later.
Tyson’s house was huge but only had four bedrooms and a kitchen that never looked like it had been used.
Fortunately he had taken his pet tiger with him when he was forced to move out because of financial troubles.
It was a somewhat surreal few days that saw us take in some of the sights and shows of Sin City for which the word bizarre is often the best description.
And whilst they always say what goes on in Vegas stays in Vegas I’m not sure if even Las Vegas is ready for Cannon & Ball, Su Pollard and Bernie Clifton.
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LEEDS digital agency Enjoy Digital, run by the likeable and talented Johnny Filewood, is supporting a young touring car racer from the region as he looks to achieve his driving ambitions.
The 19-year-old driver from Driffield in East Yorkshire who currently competes in the British Touring Car Championships, was named Top Rookie in his debut year.
Enjoy Digital will provide digital marketing and PR support to the driver to help him secure sponsorships.
What’s the name the of this young driver?
He is called Senna Proctor.
Clearly he was born to be a driver given his parents named him after one of the most famous racing drivers of all time.
Such a monicker has clearly been an inspiration to young Senna, rather than a burden.
But you think his mum and dad might have hedged their bets and given him a name that is not so clearly connected to motor racing.
Like Nigel.
Have a great weekend.