Not every fifteen year old has the chance to debate politics with a newspaper editor. I was lucky: my father was head of PR for South Glamorgan (the former county that covered Cardiff) and the editors of the Western Mail and South Wales Echo were regular visitors. The most colourful of all was Geoff Rich, who died suddenly last week.

Mr Rich edited the Echo for almost 20 years. He had strong views: about Wales, Cardiff and the issues that mattered to both. I remember vividly our discussions about the early days of Margaret Thatcher’s government, largely because Geoff robustly disposed of my knee-jerk, ill-thought out assertions. That was a useful lesson for a teenager. And when Geoff wanted to emphasise a point he’d preface it with a loud ‘Mark you!’

Geoff Rich identified completely with Cardiff. He once joked that when he was posted to Reading in 1968 his homesickness led him to stand on Reading station to wave to the 5pm train to Cardiff. He added that he had three loves: family, the Echo and rugby football. He had the good fortune to become Echo editor in 1971, as the new golden era of Welsh rugby dawned. He viewed working within kicking distance of Cardiff Arms Park as akin to being a debenture holder at Mount Olympus.

I’ve met a few newspaper editors over the years but none has toppled Geoff Rich as my image of the classic editor.