Last night we received the very sad and shocking news that our colleague and friend Joe Watson has passed away. He died unexpectedly after a short period of illness.
In IFAJ we had come to know Joe well. He served as a member of the executive committee of IFAJ until January 2014 and represented the British Guild. His love of Scotland and his passion to do a good job were always clear. He was the ‘father’ of the forthcoming congress in Scotland in September 2014.
Jane Craigie, the president of the British guild says: “It is because of Joe we are hosting in Scotland. It’s tragic that he will not be able to enjoy it. He was actively involved in organising one of the tours to Philip Benzie, Gregor Mackintosh and Maxwells farms. His was a great character, a prolific writer, he was often controversial but he was always proud of his principled stand; he had the courage of his convictions and he was a better journalist for it. We will miss him, his sense of humour and his input greatly. Joe won the P&J the Stuart Seaton award for the best farming content in a regional newspaper, an accolade that he proudly shared on his Farming pages in the Saturday Farming supplement”.
Within IFAJ, Joe had many friends around the world and made a tremendous impression on everyone he met. He will be missed very much.
Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this extremely sad and difficult time.
