John Featherstone, who died yesterday at the age of 74 after a long illness that he bore with his customary fortitude, was a legend in the South African newspaper industry.
The word legend has become seriously devalued in modern times, but John was the real deal.
An introvert, he would oversee some of the most fundamental innovations not just for what would become Independent Newspapers, but for the newspaper industry as a whole, the legacies of which we still benefit from today.
He was the architect of what is today Independent Newspapers KwaZulu-Natal, which was created by his acquisition of the privately owned Mercury into the then Argus group to form what became Natal Newspapers, all of which he then successfully relocated out of the Durban city centre to purpose-built premises on the outskirts of the Greyville race track, where they are today.
In doing so, he laid the commercial foundations for the continued existence and success of not just The Mercury, but also the Daily News.
In Johannesburg, I worked with him several years as he laid the groundwork for what would become Allied Publishing, the first ever jointly owned newspaper collective in the country, distributing the newspapers of the three English language newspaper houses nationally every day, seven days a week.
John was the man who, with Terry Moolman and Stephen Mulholland, stepped in to forge Times Media Limited out of the ashes of the old South African Associated Newspapers company in 1986. Today, that company is Avusa, governed still by the basic philosophy and strategy that they crafted to rescue a very proud newspaper group from financial disaster.
He also served as the managing director of Caxton and CTP Holdings, working hand in hand with Moolman, probably one of the biggest South African newspaper figures of them all.
In our own company, John Featherstone struck up the first ever property joint venture between real estate companies and newspapers when he author-ed the property supplement in the Weekend Argus with the then giants of Cape real estate, Cecil Golding and Samuel Seeff. That agreement later became the blueprint for the company that we crafted between real estate agents and the Saturday Star.
John lived and breathed newspapers. If there was ever anyone who had ink in his veins, it was him. He was an intensely private man who would spend an incredible amount of time in contemplation rather than bantering with colleagues, and it was this capacity for deep thought that provided the wellspring for his foresight.
As a thinker and a strategist, he was always able to apply his incredible financial and business acumen to practical problems.
The difference, though, bet-ween him and others was that John had the drive to ensure the plan was fully executed and not left to gather dust in a drawer.
Many might have thought him aloof, but nothing could have been further from the truth; instead he was determined to do whatever he could to protect and develop the company he worked for, and ultimately led with such distinction, as well as the newspaper industry in the country.
On the dawn of the new democracy and the liberation of South Africa, John was a vital member of the executive team at the Argus Printing and Publishing company which oversaw the sale of a controlling interest in the company to Irish businessman Sir Anthony O'Reilly.
His abilities soon shone through.
When I spoke to Sir Anthony yesterday, he said John Featherstone had been the first man he'd met at the beginning of the discussions to buy into the country.
'I was immediately struck by his integrity of purpose and the quality of his negotiating skills,' O'Reilly remembered yesterday.
'He made a very important contribution to Independent Newspapers - worldwide - both through his involvement in the South African company and as a director on the international board.'
John retired in 1996. It wasn't his time to go, but his ill health left him with no option.
He bore his illness with fortitude and grace, but privately he was tormented by the frustration of wanting to contribute more and being unable to do so. It was as great a loss for us as a company as it was for him.
He'd originally intended to train as an actuary on leaving school, but chose a career in newspapers by becoming a cub finance reporter before switching over to management as his career progressed. Who knows just what he could have achieved if he had continued with actuarial science?
Instead, even after his retirement, he would journey to Johannesburg where he sat as a member on our company's pension fund and where his contributions were immense, playing no small role in ensuring that the fund remained a top achiever for years.
We mourn as a company at his passing.
In an industry of giants, commercially and editorially, John Featherstone was right at the top and he set the benchmark, intellectually, professionally and ethically, for all who follow.
