Former Tribune editor Eric Gordon, who died in April at the age of 89

HE was one of London’s great newspaper figures: a campaigning journalist who thousands will have an unknown debt to.

The founder of the Tribune and co-founder of its sister paper the Camden New Journal – and their only editor until his death aged 89 – Eric Gordon was celebrated for his “rebellious spirit” at a memorial on Saturday.

Covid rules meant limited numbers were allowed inside St Mark’s Church in Primrose Hill as his unique contribution to the borough was remembered.

Judging by the response to his death in April, the pews would have been bursting and there would have been queues out of the door if the coronavirus restrictions had not been in place.

His wife Samantha thanked all those who had sent messages of support and condolences as she introduced the service for family, friends and the colleagues he had helped create and grow the papers with. Some of the music in the memorial was taken from their wedding day.

Among the speakers was Camden Council leader Georgia Gould, who admitted the CNJ had provided a stiff challenge to the Town Hall over many years, but said Eric’s work had been vital.

“He never lost any of his passion,” she said. “Eric was one of Camden’s great figures. He was a man with a big socialist vision and his legacy exists in the rigorous independence of the CNJ.”

Howard Hannah, the Tribune’s Review editor who had also worked with Eric at the time of the CNJ’s formation, said: “Even now I have Eric’s questions in my head – I think that applies to a lot of people. He was a bit like Columbo – that was his technique, the questions and then the sharp analysis at the end of it. A bit like Columbo meets Socrates.”

The New Journal had been born out of industrial action at the start of the 1980s and remains one of the only independent titles in the local newspaper industry.

Eric had already lived a colourful life before setting up the newspaper. In the 1960s, he was held with his first wife and son Kim in a Chinese hotel room for two years after being accused of being a spy. He had been writing notes for a book on the Cultural Revolution while working on a commune.

Kim recited the Kaddish, the Jewish prayer, at Saturday’s service.

The Tribune and the CNJ are planning a wider celebration of Eric’s life when restrictions lift and are exploring further ways to mark his life’s work.