By Elliott West
Introduction
Snooker has produced some fantastic journalists over the years, one being John ‘Henry’ Dee. Dee who was a former snooker journalist for The Daily Telegraph sadly passed away in 2019 after a short illness at the age of 82.
Career
John was part of the broadsheet pool when the sport boomed in the 1980s, working as an official statistician for the governing body and the BBC, receiving an award for his services to the sport in 2001. Known as ‘Henry’, Dee worked at the Wolverhampton Express and Star in the 1960s and was well known for having the best bingo caller’s voice at the paper’s traditional pre-edition breakfast.
Working on a range of weekly newspapers in the Midlands at the start of his career, John covered football, reporting on the comings and goings of Wolverhampton football club.
Subsequent to his retirement, John published a book called ‘DEETALES’ in which he reminisced about his experiences in football and snooker over his career. In it, he recounts his memories of Alex Higgins who he briefly shared a house. Dee lived with Higgins at a time when he was going through a slump in his career and the journalist was definitely responsible for helping the Irishman get back to a winning streak.
This change of fortune occurred after Alex complained to John that he was playing badly because he had lost his favourite cue. Dee recounts in his book his reply to Higgins:
“I’ve got that cue in my loft,” Henry’ told pals. It was duly retrieved, handed back to the Hurricane, and usual service was resumed”.
John continued to keep in touch with the snooker world after retiring and used to travel to Thailand every year and was also editor of Cue World. A writer who touched the hearts of many in the sport and was said to be such a likeable character. Mark Williams, a friend of Dee’s said after his passing:
“I met John when I first came on to the circuit and he was a great friend for many years. He was one of the big characters backstage and I always enjoyed sitting in the press room chatting”.
“We had some very funny moments and the trips overseas were always more enjoyable when John was there. It’s a sad day for his family and all of the players who knew him.”
