bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Kevin Kwong

Charles Anderson 1951-2008
Former South China Morning Post features editor Charles Anderson  probably only ever missed one important deadline in his  journalistic career - when a large snake wriggled its way into a newsroom, sending everyone reeling  in horror.
That was in Papua New Guinea in the early 1980s, and the  senior  newspaper editor played it extremely cool even then.
For those who knew him, Anderson was a solid, reliable and dependable newsman, husband and father. He is best remembered for his composure, generosity towards everyone around him and a keen interest in local affairs.
He died  at his Shek O home on Sunday after succumbing to colon cancer. He was 57.
Born in Liverpool and growing up in Bromsgrove, a town outside Birmingham in England, Anderson showed a keen interest in newspapers even in his teens, when he produced his own family news bulletins.
He started at the Hereford Times, and  at the age of 23 became features editor at Western Daily Press in Bristol. He spent eight years there, during which time he published his book A City and its Cinemas, which explores the social history of the old movie houses in the area.
Anderson later left Britain for Papua New Guinea, overseeing the production of a local newspaper for two years. In 1985, he arrived in  Hong Kong to join the Post.
In  1987-88,  he had a  stint at the Hong Kong Standard as chief sub-editor. There, he met his future wife Kathy Griffin, from Canada. He soon returned to the Post to head the paper's features section.
'He liked the creative side of the job, looking at the content and looking at new ways to do things, doing the production,' said his wife.
'He worked under different editors - Phillip Crawley, David Armstrong and Jonathan Fenby - and he had a good working relationship with all three.'
Under his supervision,  the features pages became more localised.
Anderson  left the Post in 2000 to go freelance and to research his book on the 1906 typhoon, which hit Hong Kong without warning, killing an estimated 10,000 people. It was one of  his greatest passions,  but it was a project he was unable to finish.
However, one wish did come true for him as he was able to celebrate the 15th birthday of his twins, Esme and Michael.
'When they discharged him at the end of June, it was just a matter of weeks ... the hope was that he could be there for the twins' birthday,' said his wife.  'And he was.'
Anderson is also survived by a third child, Sasha.  Details of his funeral and service will be announced later.



Composed, reliable professional who thrived on creativity