Born in Edinburgh, Mr Dow moved to Africa as a child, his father having been offered a job as a telephone engineer in Dar es Salaam, in what was then Tanganyika.
Jim Dow with his book African Dow
He grew up amid intense political friction in Africa, including a state of emergency as the Mau Mau terrorist organisation pushed for an independent Kenya.
CareerAfter leaving school, Mr Dow – by then a fluent speaker of Swahili – pursued a career in journalism and in 1956 was recruited by the English language newspaper the Tanganyika Standard.
On returning to the UK, he spent more than 20 years working for our sister newspaper The Scotsman, as a reporter and then in a number of senior posts including business editor.
He was married to Lorna and the couple have a daughter, Karen, and granddaughters Natasha and Lindsay.
For full obituary, see The Advertiser, out now.
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