Sad news reached us in early December of the death of one of The Gibraltar Magazine’s longest running contributors and supporters, Reg Reynolds. Reg, who barely missed contributing editorial to a single edition since The Gibraltar Magazine first appeared in 1995, tragically died of a heart-attack while staying with family in Canada.
Reg was born on 1st February 1948 in Victoria, B.C., Canada. After numerous jobs from petrol pump attendant to insurance salesman, Reg signed on as a sports reporter for the Victoria Daily Colonist in 1973, going on to become sports editor for Comox and District Free Press and a scriptwriter for CKVU Television in Vancouver. In August, 1984, he moved to Portugal to become features writer and editor for Discover publications, an association which led him to Gibraltar in 1986 for a spell as the first editor of Discover Gibraltar.
Reg divided his time between Gibraltar, London, Victoria B.C. and Portugal’s Portimão (where he began the Porti-Rocha 10 pin bowling league, which led to the formation of a national team). He was known widely for his big personality, kindness, sparkling blue eyes, and an easy writing style that made storytelling seem easy. He loved Gibraltar and since the time he first visited in the ’80s, with his long-time partner Maggie, he spent many enjoyable hours scouring second-hand book shops and libraries, and later the internet, searching for unusual celebrity/historical connections to entertain his loyal readers on the Rock.
Reg was author of several books — Big Jim Ryan (Orca), The Best of Algarve Life (Helvern), Strange But True Stories of Gibraltar vols. 1 & 2 (Helvern), and The Revenge of Tom Dollar (Writers Club Inc). The latter was his only novel, based on the true story of a sailor imprisoned on the Rock for murder in 1860, which Reg wrote ensconced in the Queen’s Hotel during a hot summer in 2001.
Reg Reynolds will be missed greatly by his friends, his family, his partner Maggie and, no doubt, by readers of this publication. A celebration of Reg’s life will be held in Canada in the summer of 2022.
Reg’s final contribution to The Gibaltar Magazine can be found in our December 2021 issue.
Sleep well, friend.
