Veteran journalist and mentor Robert ‘Bob’ Mellis dies at 84

Veteran journalist, editor and mentor to many Robert Mellis, also known as ‘Bob’, has died at the age of 84.

Mellis died in the United States on 31 January after battling a series of health complications, his daughter Lynn Mellis Worthington confirmed yesterday.

Born in Inverness, Scotland, Mellis began his journalism career at The Scotsman, where he started as a ‘copy boy’, taking newspaper copy from one section of the paper to another, at the age of 19.

Worthington said Mellis’ passion for reporting took him to the United States (US) in 1961.

“Mellis worked for a number of well-known newspapers in various capacities across the United States. He was the news features editor at The St Petersburg Times in the 1970s, and later became the graphic arts director at Miami Herald,” she said.

Worthington said beyond her father’s career in journalism, he had a deep love for teaching and mentorship.

He has travelled to 21 countries, using his expertise to train young journalists, particularly in regions with restricted press freedom.

In Namibia, he worked closely with The Namibian as a visiting Knight Fellow, guiding local reporters through the challenges of independent reporting.

Mellis was in Namibia at the time of the terrorist attacks in the US by al Qaeda on 11 September 2001.

Mellis and his wife, Jo, were avid travellers, spending years sailing along the US East Coast and the Bahamas before journeying across all 50 US states in a motor home.

Colleagues and loved ones remember Mellis for his humour, resilience and unwavering dedication to journalism.

“Having been instrumental in getting Bob Mellis through the Knight Fellowships was among the best moves in mentoring and improving our journalism,” The Namibian’s editor-in-chief, Tangeni Amupadhi, said yesterday.

“While we mourn his demise, I can’t help but celebrate too, because Bob helped elevate our journalism work. He was hands on, and had a generous, patient approach. May his spirit soar,” he said.

Carmen Honey, a former colleague of Mellis at The Namibian, says apart from journalism, sailing his beloved yacht was most dear to him.

“I think Bob would like to be remembered as a good journalist, teacher and family man. He contributed to The Namibian by sharing that curiosity with colleagues and helping them to see things they may not have noticed, and giving them confidence to go out and get the story,” Honey says.

Veteran journalist Gwen Lister said yesterday: “They don’t make them like this any more. Those are the first words that come to mind when I think about Bob Mellis.”

Lister said Mellis had developed a range of skills as a journalist, editor and later publisher.

“From news reporting to graphics and layout, marketing and advertising to management, a complete all-rounder […] Bob had thoroughly mastered the craft, and when he retired at 60, also inspired by a love of travel, he offered his services to The Namibian and media in other parts of the world to share his expertise and knowledge gained after decades in the industry,” she said.

“He threw himself heart and soul into assignments, especially enjoying his trips to northern Namibia,” said Lister.

Jean Sutherland, former news editor of The Namibian, recounted yesterday: “Tall, with a grizzled beard and more often than not a twinkle in his eyes, his easygoing manner saw him effortlessly fit in with our motley crew.

“Bob was not a man who liked to be confined, let alone by offices. His was an open-sea approach. He was guided by his own north star.

“Bob enjoyed people and people enjoyed him. He especially appreciated working with our then out-of-town reporters – Oswald Shivute in the north, Luqman Cloete in the south and Maggi Barnard at the coast.”

Sutherland added that she appreciated Mellis’ “love of the art and discipline of journalism, and his ability to communicate it to others. He was a stickler about getting the basics of journalism right, especially the facts.”

“‘Once you get the basics right, it frees up your ability to write well, to tell the story, to reach people,’ I recall him saying,” Sutherland said.

“Bob encouraged us to look beyond the obvious; to not get stuck in how we felt a story should take shape, or to mould it around our preconceptions.”