* Sara Lupino Lane
* guardian.co.uk, Thursday 15 July 2010 17.45 BST
My husband, Keith Colquhoun, who has died aged 82 of prostate cancer, worked almost continuously as a journalist for 60 years. He also had a parallel career as a novelist, writing 11 well-regarded books, which achieved for him esteem rather than the more concrete joys of financial success. He published his most recent novel, Five Deadly Words, this year. He also had an unwanted place in a 1970s scandal, when his first wife, Maureen, then Labour MP for Northampton North, went off in a blaze of publicity with a woman.
Keith started his career on the West Sussex County Times and then moved to the Evening Argus in Brighton. His first job in Fleet Street was with the Daily Herald. Later, he moved into magazine journalism, working as managing editor for the Observer Colour Magazine, where we met. He moved to Hong Kong, where he worked as chief subeditor of the Far Eastern Economic Review.
On his return to London in 1982, he worked at the Economist for 20 years. As Asia editor, he interviewed prime ministers, presidents and business leaders. He then became obituaries editor, where he used his talents to turn each life into an elegant short story, drawing on his knowledge of politics, history and current affairs, combined with a peerless ability to put the boot in, when needed. He left the Economist at the age of 75 and carried on working as a journalist, based in Paris and Brussels.
Keith said that the best way to get through life was to be reasonably happy with what you did, which he had been. He is survived by three children, Andrew, Mary and Edward, from his marriage to Maureen, and by me and our children, Jessie, Toby and Grace, as well as six grandchildren and one great-grandson.
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