Former Calendar presenter John Shires, who spent more than three decades on screen, has died at the age of 71.
John began his career in newspapers and local radio before joining Yorkshire Television in 1989. He spent the following 32 years serving the region’s viewers.
He died on Wednesday 1 July at St James’s Hospital in leeds with his family by his side. He had been ill for some time.
John was best known for co-presenting the Calendar News programme with Gaynor Barnes.
She said: “He was a class act. A gentlemen. He was so clever and, my goodness, he was funny.
“I so appreciate that we worked together for 30 years – it’s a long long time, but he made it fun. He really did.
“He was such a character. He was unique. He was a Calendar legend.
“He will be so sorely missed by us all.”
John Shires co-presented Calendar News alongside Gaynor Barnes.
Throughout his career, John developed close friendships and working relationships in the Calendar newsroom.
Shiresy. Not John. Not John Shires. Shiresy. That was how he was known by his colleagues at Calendar for more than 30 years as he brought his brilliant brand of journalism to the newsroom.
His enduring love was sport – all sport – and he brought his wit and extensive knowledge to the table whatever the event.
His beloved Huddersfield Town brought him the greatest joy on their promotion to the Premier League in 2017, but he was a huge supporter of Yorkshire cricket, and a one-man Wisden with his knowledge of a game he played and followed all his life.
His career began as a reporter on the Pontefract and Castleford Express, but he was soon broadcasting on local radio and secured a job at Calendar in 1989.
While sport was his passion, he was no stranger to news, covering the Hillsborough disaster in his first year at Calendar and in 2000 he was in Turkey when two Leeds fans lost their life in the build up to a UEFA Cup semi-final.
But it was his involvement in sport which Calendar viewers may remember most – a generation of people who grew up listening to his incisive and knowledgable coverage of Leeds United’s campaigns in Europe and the exploits of other sportsmen and women around the world.
Closer to home, in 2012, John presented ITV News Calendar’s coverage of the London Olympics and in 2014 he was part of the team reporting on Yorkshire’s ‘Grand Depart’, which saw the region host a stage of the Tour de France.
A nod to his professionalism was exemplified by the fact he stood on a roadside filming the event on his 60th birthday.
And while much of his reporting and presenting was of a serious nature, there was a dry and slightly anarchic sense of humour which, behind the scenes, would leave the newsroom in fits of laughter.
Many of his colleagues will remember him holding court after a day in the newsroom, giving his unique interpretation of the live programme which he had just finished presenting – often dissolving into uncontrollable giggles with his co-presenter Gaynor Barnes on the Calendar South programme.
His death has caught all of us up short, but it has allowed us to remember, and laugh. A class act. We will miss you Shiresy.
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