Miscellaneous trivia
Jim's interest in writing and design goes back a long way. By the age of 11 he had written two 48-page comic-strip books in the Asterix/Tintin tradition.
Jim Adlam launched his own magazine and publishing organisation at the age of 15, catering to the local transport enthusiast market. For 13 years he edited and published this bimonthly magazine, which picked up a reasonable following in its field and was marketed both to subscribers and through bookshops. If launching this project nowadays, he would probably create an online news site, but back then it involved learning the business of producing a 32-page print magazine: editing, design, printing, binding and distribution.
In his early years at the Richmond & Twickenham Times group, Jim Adlam worked with a number of young journalists who went on to bigger and better things in the national or global media. These included Anthony Mitchell, who was later known as a fearless, crusading reporter for the Associated Press in Africa until his untimely death in an air crash in 2007, and Alex Bilmes, now editor of Esquire magazine.
At the RTT, Jim Adlam also worked for the late Malcolm Richards, one of the longest-serving newspaper editors in the country and a true character of local journalism.
People often ask Jim about the origins of his relatively uncommon surname (although there are in fact more Adlams around than you might assume). Adlam is an old Anglo-Saxon name, with the original meaning of 'noble protector'. The name is said to have emerged in either Wiltshire or Somerset.
Jim is a cousin of the scriptwriter Terry Adlam.
Email Jim Adlam on jjadlam@yahoo.com.
