British newspaperman Richard Boston dies

LONDON, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Richard Boston, founder of one of Britain's first environmental magazines and a proponent of real ale, has died after a short illness.

He was 67.

Boston became a feature writer and regular columnist for The Guardian newspaper in 1972 and was well known for his column, "Boston on Beer," which noted the highlights of drinking true British-brewed ale at a time when large breweries were attempting to impose mass-production on the nation.

Boston was also known as an early environmentalist. He went on in 1977 to found "The Vole," one of the first environmental publications in Britain. He had the backing of the Dartington Trust and Monty Python star, Terry Jones.

The Guardian noted that the magazine started out with a bang with a circulation of about 20,000 before it ceased publication some three years later. Boston once told an interviewer, "Although ideologically I'm democratic, temperamentally I'm dictatorial."

Boston returned to The Guardian where for several years he wrote features, reviews and columns.