Obituary;Keith Colquhoun;Farewell to an old Asia hand and The Economist’s previous Obituaries editor;In the 20-odd years he worked for The Economist, from 1981 to 2004, Keith Colquhoun never raised his voice.He did not need to. His soft, courteous, slightly smiling delivery encouraged people to listen, as to a favourite uncle.But steel lay behind it. “I’ve just taken one or two liberties with your copy,”he would say, meaning that it had been completely rewritten into the best simple, accurate, sparely punctuated Colquhoun prose.“I would like to do X,” he would say gently, announcing the week’s Obituary candidate, who was often a complete unknown;and neither wild horses, nor the deaths of great celebrities, could persuade him to change his mind.Keith came into journalism the old-fashioned way, through provincial papers and Fleet Street,but got as far as Hong Kong, where he worked for the Far Eastern Economic Review.He loved Asia, though his view of it was really that of a 19th-century colonial administrator.He had a soft spot for geishas. Of one correspondent, non-productive though enjoying a lavish retainer, he once remarked:“I think perhaps if we do not hear from him next year, we should send him a note.”Though no stripling, he would hunger to get to Siam, Sinkiang or Tartary.
逝者;基斯・科尔克霍恩;一个写亚洲的老手、《经济学人》逝者专栏前编辑，再见了;1984年-2004年，在基斯・科尔克霍恩为《经济学人》工作的这20多年里，他从不提高声音说话。他不需要这样。他轻柔、谦恭、略带微笑的讲话风格使人们愿意聆听，就像听一个可爱的叔叔讲话一样。但是话语背后透着坚决。他会说，“我把你的稿子做了一两处处理”，意思是，稿子已经改成最简洁、最准确、标点最少的科尔克霍恩风格。当他宣布当周的逝者人选时，他会轻轻说，“我想做某某人”，通常是一个完全不为人知的名字；无论是野马，还是大明星的去世，都不能改变他的主意。基斯进入记者圈是那种很老套的方式，先在地方报纸做，然后进入伦敦报业街，但是他最远到了香港，供职于《远东经济评论》。他热爱亚洲，尽管他对亚洲的看法还像是一个19世纪的殖民地官员。他喜欢艺妓。他曾这样评论一个不出活却享受高价聘用金的记者：“我想也许这样，假如我们明年收不到他的信的话，我们应该给他寄一封。”他虽然不是小伙子，却渴望去暹罗、新疆和鞑靼。
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