Mike Lowe, the former editor of the Bristol Post and Gloucester Citizen, has died following a short illness. Mike has been praised over the years for his dedication to journalism having spent four decades working in the industry at several regional press titles.
The award-winning editor passed away peacefully on Wednesday afternoon after battling a short illness, it has been announced. His death was confirmed on his Twitter profile by his wife, Helen Lowe.
The statement read: "I expect many of you may have heard by now but I’m sorry to have to tell you that Mike, 68, passed away peacefully yesterday afternoon after a short illness.
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"On top of all the other problems he has endured the past few years it was just too much for him. The end of an era."
Born in Manchester, Mike acquired a rich portfolio of publications that spanned forty years during his time as a journalist. He first attended the University of Hull to study English in 1982 and began his career as a trainee reporter with a Hull-based agency, according to press publication HoldTheFrontPage.
Mike spent two decades with Northcliffe, first working as a sports writer in Lincoln before moving to the Hull Daily Mail and The Sentinel in Stoke-on-Trent. He then edited the Gloucester Citizen, the Derby Telegraph and the Bristol Post, winning several industry awards during his career.
Mr Lowe left his role at the Bristol Evening Post in June 2007 where he had served as the editor for almost nine years. He had also been editor at the Derby Telegraph since 2001. He went on to take a newly created editorship at the Bristol United Press.
Most recently, he left his position as editor of Archant-owned Cotswold Life in December 2020 after 14 years at the regional news and lifestyle magazine.
Tributes have been paid to the larger-than-life editor who was loved by so many in the industry.
Mark Taylor, long-serving writer of the Bristol Post, said: "So sorry to hear this, Helen, a great editor, a great man, thoroughly enjoyed working for him for years on the Post and then Cotswold Life. We simply won’t see another Lowey."
Senior story editor for GloucestershireLive, Mark Halliwell, added: "Condolences to you and your family. I did my first work experience at the Citizen when Mike was editor in the late 80s. A great character and a giant of the regional press."
His wife, Helen, has requested for people to not send flowers at this time but instead to make a donation to a local food bank in Mike's name as it "would make him" and Mrs Lowe "very happy".
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