Veteran FTW journalist Alan
Peat has retired after a career
that has spanned over 40
years, 27 of those with this
publication.
Although he read for a
degree in economics at St
Andrews University
in Scotland,
Alan never
pursued
this
as a
profession, rather following
his adventurous spirit in the
UK and South Africa. Before
taking up photo-journalism
at the age of 28, his career
path was extremely varied. He
sold convertible accounting
machines to British
companies desperate to be
decimalised as their national
currency was converted
from Lsd in 1971, before
the attraction of SA’s sunny
climes (and two Durban
girls he met in Edinburgh)
persuaded him to come to
this country later that year.
His first five years here saw
him trying his hand at a
range of different tasks that
included import clerk, ship’s
engineer, book shop manager
and art gallery assistant –
before joining a Scottish
friend’s PR outfit in
Durban as a photojourno.
Alan decided that
this was the path
to follow, and, over
the years, it saw
him employed as
finance editor of
the Sunday Tribune
in Durban, as a
transport specialist
with the then newly
established Business
Day in Johannesburg,
and as a features editor
with the Financial Mail.
He then switched from the
mainstream to the trade
press field where he edited
a number of transport
publications.
At this stage of his career,
Alan twice won what then
existed as the SA Transport
Services (SATS) ‘Transport
Journalist of the Year’ awards
– once as the overall awardwinner
and once as ‘Feature
Writer of the Year’.
All this was before he
made what he described as
his “best move
ever” and joined
Now Media
as consulting
editor of FTW
in 1990.
“Working
(and socialising)
for so many
years with Now
Media owners,
the Marsh
family, and
FTW editor
Joy Orlek, has
always been a great pleasure,”
said Alan. “Also writing for
a publication that has such
status in the industry as
Freight & Trading Weekly has
pleased my journalistic soul.
And the business contacts I
have made and befriended
over the years have also been a
great fulfilment.”
An old-school journalist
with a talent for investigative
writing, his relentless pursuit
of the facts has ensured that
over the years FTW has
become essential reading,
providing informed insights
into the news behind the
news.
Never one to shy away from
controversy, he has ruffled
many feathers
along the way
– but gained
respect for his
no-nonsense
reporting.
A master
craftsman as
a wordsmith,
humble and
unassuming,
he’s always been
generous in his
praise for his
colleagues.
Alan will be spending
some well-earned leisure time
over the next few months
recuperating from a few
health setbacks, including a
broken shoulder, but has not
ruled out the possibility of
doing some freelance writing
in the future.
Business contacts
I have made and
befriended over the
years have been a
great fulfilment.
– Alan Peat
