Eddie Young’s decision to deliver reassuring words to the husband of a close friend, despite the fact that his own life was coming to an end, was somehow fitting.
But this was characteristic of the famed Daily Mail attorney, who passed away yesterday at the age of 80 after a valiant battle with sickness.
He was a character who enjoyed discussing both the ups and downs of the England rugby team and the contradictions of the law. The one thing he never did was discuss himself or his health.
But if modesty was one of his greatest personal traits, it was matched by a talent and understanding of the complexities of the law that made him one of the most powerful legal brains of his period. Outwardly, he presented his opinions on what the Mail’s editors could or (rarely) could not include in their newspaper with authority and composure.
Sometimes these evaluations were accompanied by a wry sidelong gaze, but woe to anyone who mistook this wit for a lack of passion! Press freedom and the right to publish were not only a passion, but also a guiding principle.
Eddie was one of the newspaper industry’s unsung heroes; his name did not appear on the front page with scoops or interviews. He did not write a column or file conflict zone dispatches. However, his impact was evident on each page and in each headline.
As the legal counsel for the Mail’s publisher, Associated Newspapers, these assets were never more in need than on the evening of February 13, 1997.
Eddie Young, the famed Daily Mail attorney (shown with wife Diana), passed away Friday at the age of 80.
The front page of the following day’s Daily Mail would feature a single word headline. It said “Murderers,” and underneath it were five photographs of the individuals it accused of murdering Stephen Lawrence, a black teenager, in a racially motivated attack.
Eddie was the one who informed then-editor Paul Dacre that, despite the potential of being sued, the title “didn’t keep me awake at night.”
This was not a knee-jerk reaction, but rather a clever, deliberate decision based on a thorough evaluation of the case’s evidence. As necessary in a libel case, he believed that the five individuals, some of whom had criminal backgrounds and descended from known underworld families, had very little reputation to defend.
The enormous risk paid off, and the Mail’s crucial involvement in the case was vindicated by that single scathing and brave banner headline.
In a 40-year career, there were undoubtedly innumerable other headlines, but Eddie believed that February evening nearly 26 years ago to be his best day. Later, he explained, “I never wanted the spotlight and always preferred to maintain a low profile, but with this event I could not avoid the publicity.”
Articles appeared in newspapers and magazines, and television coverage was virtually nonstop. It was the editor’s decision to publish, and he took the risk; I was pleased to share in the glory!’
Eddie was adored not only by his family and the Mail’s legal team, but also by its journalists. When he retired in 2009, he was ‘banned out,’ a Fleet Street ritual commemorating the retirement of long-serving editorial personnel. Before then, no attorney had ever received such an honor.
As he walked into the Mail’s crowded Kensington workplace, he brushed away a tear as he acknowledged the noise.
Eddie Young may have never become an attorney. He believed he had failed his law exams and concluded that a career in advertising could suit him better. And he believed that his athletic prowess in cricket and rugby — he played in the same school XV as former Tory minister Chris (now Lord) Patten — would be of use.
Unfortunately, he found no takers, but he overcame his disappointment upon finding that he had passed his legal examinations after all.
Eddie was born in London during the Blitz in November 1942; his three-year-old cousin was murdered by the first bomb to hit a London residential building.
He was the fourth of six children born to Alfred, an enormous automobile dealer, and Katherine, an Anglican who converted to her husband’s Catholic faith at the age of 70.
Eddie converted to Judaism after marrying his wife, Diana.
After graduating from St Benedict’s, Ealing, he got a place at University College London to study law. His first job was as a £15-per-week trainee for an Islington attorney who was also a part-time minister. Two years later, he moved to a West End law company as an assistant solicitor.
Eddie believed that February evening about 26 years ago to be his greatest day. The Mail’s crucial involvement in the case was vindicated by that one, scathing, and brave banner headline. In 1993, Stephen Lawrence was fatally stabbed in a racially motivated attack.
In 1969, while feeling somewhat bored, Eddie saw an advertisement for a lawyer in the Evening Standard. He applied, was hired, and almost immediately felt at home amid the frantic activity of banging typewriters and demanding deadlines.
He continued to practice law on the side while also operating a conveyancing business for journalists.
In the 1980s, when the Standard, then owned by the Express group, was acquired by the Daily Mail, Eddie, who was 6 feet 3 inches tall, followed.
In spite of his careful, intelligent, and ostensibly unflappable counsel, there were times when he became agitated and threw the telephone.
To the Mail family, he was always cordial and a towering figure. Eddie Young was a beloved and well-respected member of the Daily Mail staff, according to Viscount Rothermere, chairman of DMGT, the Mail’s parent company. Under his leadership, the Mail was able to print numerous critical items that other attorneys would not have approved, including the Stephen Lawrence case.’
The editor-in-chief of DMG Media, Paul Dacre, hailed Eddie as ‘faithful, fearless, and totally decent’ and ‘the finest newspaper attorney I’ve ever dealt with. He was more concerned with getting controversial material into the newspaper than keeping it out, and I often believed that he had a deeper affinity for journalism than for the law.
“He was the man you’d want to be in the trenches with”
Diana and their three children Daniella, Nadine, and Ilan survive Eddie.