“The most extraordinary editor of our time” is a tribute to which half the hacks on Fleet Street would be happy to aspire. So which inspirational journalist has inspired such high praise? Step forward Richard Ingrams, the 76-year-old who has just resigned from The Oldie among a caterwaul of snarls and recriminations.
Despite the fact that Ingrams has already declared his successor — old friend Alexander Chancellor — a “bloody fool” for taking the “poisoned chalice” of a job, the object of his scorn has decided to smother Ingrams’s growls under an avalanche of praise.
“During his 22-year tenure at The Oldie, a magazine he created as a morale-booster for people feeling marginalised by the all-pervading cult of youth, Ingrams succeeded so triumphantly in his objective that we oldies now feel we can do anything,” writes Chancellor in this week’s Spectator.
“Well, perhaps not anything. Here, however, was one job — possibly the only job in the world — for which at my age (74) I felt that I could plausibly apply.”
Chancellor began by wryly noting that “Last week was unusual … On Monday I was pottering about pleasantly as retired old people do. On Tuesday I was offered and accepted the editorship.” The charm is lathered on. “If The Oldie continues to be as successful as it is now, there will be no one to thank but Ingrams.”
I believe this tactic is called “killing with kindness”. But will the old beast Ingrams be tamed?
