Tributes have been pouring in following the death of Jean Holmes Finlayson, a respected former journalist for the Bath Chronicle and a longtime resident of Bath, who died last week at the age of 91.
Known affectionately as ‘Jeannie,’ Jean hailed from a small town in southern Illinois, on the edge of the American Midwest and Deep South. She attended the prestigious University of Missouri School of Journalism, earning both a scholarship and a major academic award during her studies alongside notable peers such as PBS news anchor Jim Lehrer.
Graduating in 1956, Jean initially served as assistant editor for a nationwide farming magazine. She and her first husband lived on a remote Texas farm, where Jean even earned a pilot’s licence to navigate the isolated territory in a single-seater aircraft.
READ MORE: South West Venue Named Among World’s Most Exclusive Restaurants
READ MORE: Idyllic South West Nature Reserve Balances Wildlife and Visitors
Relocating to the UK in 1958, Jean taught English literature to American service personnel stationed at air bases. During this time, she became one of the first American tourists to visit the Soviet Union in June 1960, later traveling extensively throughout the former USSR, including Central Asia.
In 1963, Jean married Vic Finlayson, a Scottish biochemist and later an Open University tutor. She enjoyed a distinguished journalism and media relations career, contributing to prominent outlets such as The Times, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, and the Times Educational Supplement. Jean was a committed campaigner, producing national articles that raised awareness about the difficulties faced by families of children with dyslexia.
Bath residents may remember her tenure at the Bath Chronicle from 1970 to 1977, where she penned a consumer affairs column and served as a TV critic. Jean also created hundreds of features on Bath’s community and personalities, often sparking engaging debates among readers.
Perhaps most memorably, Jean played a pivotal role in the successful campaign to save the allotments beside St Stephen’s Church on Lansdown Road from development. Thanks to her efforts, the allotments were preserved, and part of the site was transformed into the cherished Lansdown Millennium Green.
Jean and Vic lived in Lansdown between 1969 and 2014 before moving to Norwich, where their son Alan is a politics professor at the University of East Anglia. She is survived by her daughter Natasha, a charity chief executive, and by Alan.