Obituary: Ann Leslie

Dame Ann Leslie was 1 of Britain's astir celebrated - and astir formidable - journalists.

She was an seemingly fearless reporter, a forthright commentator and pundit, and a storyteller of wit and originality.

Her vocation was made each the much singular by the information that she was a woman, who succeeded successful the look of the paper industry's deep-seated sexism successful an epoch erstwhile women were expected to specialise successful what she called "knit-your-own-royals" features, not go roving overseas correspondents.

She reported from much than 70 countries and witnessed first-hand specified epoch-making events arsenic the autumn of the Berlin Wall, the archetypal Gulf War and Nelson Mandela's locomotion to freedom.

Ann Elizabeth Mary Leslie was calved successful Rawalpindi, successful what is present Pakistan, connected 28 June 1941, the girl of an lipid manufacture executive.

At the property of four, she was sent to a section boarding school, and astatine nine, to a convent schoolhouse successful England.

She got her archetypal occupation successful journalism successful 1962 astatine the Daily Express successful Manchester, consecutive retired of Oxford. As she aboriginal told the story, her quality exertion took an instant dislike to this young, educated pistillate foisted connected him by caput bureau successful Fleet Street.

"You're keeping a bully antheral retired of a job," helium told her, and did everything helium could to marque her beingness difficult.

No-one gave her a transcript of the Daily Express style-book, truthful she invented her ain style, considerably livelier and much readable: the quality exertion whitethorn person hated her stories but they made the nighttime exertion laughter and helium enactment them successful the paper.

Salvation came, according to her account, erstwhile she was sent to Oldham successful a blizzard to interrogation a dwarf who had been astatine schoolhouse with Cary Grant. They got connected similar a location connected fire, sipping the Scotch helium kept hidden from his woman successful a kettle.

"We were getting merrier and merrier. Suddenly the wife, who looked similar Les Dawson, turned up," she aboriginal recalled. "She was furious. She saw this upper-class pistillate wearing a fur overgarment getting tipsy with her husband. So she threw maine out."

But the communicative made the insubstantial and she was promoted to a occupation successful London, and aboriginal fixed a file nether the headline, "She's young, she's provocative and she's lone 22."

To statesman with, she concentrated connected showbiz stories. In her autobiography, she recalled being propositioned successful a Paris edifice country by a trouser-less David Niven, being driven by Steve McQueen successful a Mini Cooper "at terrifying velocity up and down Park Lane successful Central London - mostly connected the pavement".

After a time, she startled her exertion by resigning her file and asking to power to "proper reporting". Later, by which clip she was reputedly the highest paid pistillate successful Fleet Street, the Express's overseas exertion David English started sending her to constitute features abroad.

He offered her the occupation of moving the paper's New York bureau arsenic well, but was overruled by the editor, who said, "Women can't tally bureaux." She near the Express, turned freelance, and erstwhile David English became exertion of the Daily Mail she signed an exclusive declaration to constitute for the paper.

Over the adjacent 40 years she filed stories from astir the world, including galore wars and disasters. There were civilian wars successful Zimbabwe, El Salvador and the erstwhile Yugoslavia; the archetypal Gulf War successful Iraq; the Falklands successful the aftermath of the Argentine invasion; and the Middle East.

She donned afloat Islamic formal to study undercover from Iran and erstwhile had to dodge retired the backmost doorway of a store successful Zimbabwe to flight the attentions of Robert Mugabe's concealed police.

In Israel it's said she erstwhile narrowly escaped 3 termination bombings successful 1 day, and successful April 2002 she was the lone British writer successful Manger Square successful Bethlehem erstwhile Israeli tanks moved into the town: it was 1 of galore occasions erstwhile she managed to beryllium successful the close spot astatine the close time.

On different juncture she arrived successful Berlin conscionable successful clip to spot the Berlin Wall travel down successful 1989.

She ever denied being "a warfare junkie", and so she covered astatine slightest 9 US statesmanlike elections and 5 superpower summits, travelled with Mrs Thatcher during the 1979 predetermination campaign, went to Mexico to record stories connected the country's notorious cause cartels and reported from Moscow during the Cold War.

She was much funny successful radical than successful subject tactics, and successful the interaction of authorities connected mean men and women than successful weapons.

She was a formidable pistillate but wary of what she sometimes called "shrieking" feminists. Women should halt whingeing, she utilized to say. "The constituent is that you person to beryllium tough, and we larn to beryllium pugnacious by being challenged."

She was blessed to support the Daily Mail against charges that it demeaned women. "I worked for the Mail for perfectly yonks. I was ne'er demeaned, I was fixed fantastic jobs, cipher said to me, 'Oh well, you've lone got this occupation due to the fact that you're pretty,' due to the fact that I wasn't that beauteous anyway, I was bully astatine my job."

In 1969, aft galore years of courtship, she joined Michael Fletcher, a workplace manager astatine the BBC. They'd met astatine Oxford. But helium had to organise the wedding and she didn't archer her family.

She told different interviewer that she had been offered editorships down the years, but had ever refused them.

"In a comic mode - and radical laughter erstwhile I accidental it - I americium not ambitious. I person ne'er wanted to person the sanction connected the door, I person ne'er wanted to person secretaries and chauffeurs and things similar that. It's a cliche now, astir journalism being the archetypal draught of history, but I privation to person the thrill of seeing things happening which are going to spell into the past books.

"I'll play a precise tiny portion successful it, but I privation to cognize what it feels similar for the radical connected the ground."