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Click here to look at Geoff Simpson's full freelance profile on Journalism.co.uk.

Why did you choose to become a freelancer?
The person that I have to thank for giving me the idea of a career in journalism is Tony Harding, a devotee of Hemingway, Conrad and D H Lawrence, who taught me English at school for a number of years in the 1960s.

He didn't like one of my essays and wrote on it, "This is a good piece of journalism", which he intended as an insult, but which set me thinking.

How did you become a freelancer?
I worked for a number of trade magazines including Self Service and Supermarket (later SuperMarketing), Grocers' Gazette, Nurseryman and Garden Centre and Con-Tob Retailing, which I edited.
 
I had spells in public relations jobs and spent 15 years as head of public affairs at what is now the Co-operative Group.
 
Even when in public relations roles I always kept my hand in by writing as a freelancer, not least on retail and travel topics and this has helped me now that I am a full-time freelancer. I took the decision to go freelance because of all the freedom it gives me.

Do you specialise in any particular field and what areas do you write about?
Military history, particularly the RAF in the Second World War, has always been an interest of mine - I am now a Trustee of the National Memorial to the Battle of Britain airmen at Capel-le-Ferne in Kent and a Council member of the Friends of the Imperial War Museum.

Having visited Jersey on many occasions, for both business and pleasure, I have a great love for the island and so I frequently write about the largest and most southerly of the Channel Islands, never I hope falling into the common trap of describing it as part of the UK.

Which publications have you been published in?
My material has appeared in a tremendous variety of publications including the Daily Telegraph, Cheshire Life, Jersey Evening Post, In Britain, Best of British, Evergreen, British Journalism Review, RAF News, Spirit of the Air (published by the RAF for senior officers) and Co-op News.

I did write an obit for The Times once, which, I was pleased to note, was only altered in respect of one style point and shortened by one par. Currently I edit Rochdale Style, a lifestyle magazine.

What are the best and worst aspects of freelancing?
Researching and writing about the lesser-known participants in the Battle of Britain can be especially rewarding.

My articles, for example, have helped to establish the facts behind the death of another Spitfire pilot, Herbert Case - in brief he died in action, rather than in an unexplained accident as was often claimed.

In 199,1 his commanding officer from 1940 wrote to me saying that he had a terrible feeling that, because of the pressure of events, he had not sent a letter of condolence and would I pass his regrets to the family. They were pleased to receive his condolences, albeit 51 years late.

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freelance | freelancer of the fortnight | geoff simpson |

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