Vale Mark Colvin

Written 6/3/2017   

Mark Colvin died on 11 May 2017 and Thomas announced his death on The World Today.

Dear Mark

I greatly enjoyed reading your book, Light and Shadow, a requested Christmas gift from my son Thomas. Like you I am an avid reader and Light and Shadow was the last of many books I read in 2016, and arguably the pick of the year. I particularly liked the blending of the personal and historical, as I lived through many of those years, as a constant ABC viewer, listener and news junkie in general.

I noted with amusement Lee Duffield “covering the mouth” of a colleague at a JJ meeting in the 70s. I have known Lee and his ex-wife, and colleague, for many years. Indeed Di visited us just before their departure for Belgium and Lee’s European posting. As luck would have it we had friends in Brussels able to accommodate the Duffields upon their arrival.

Early this year we had a family reunion and the subject of books came up, as it often does, and I recommended your book to my sister-in-law’s brother, the actor Richard Mellick.  The following day Richard, the voice of SBS’s Who Do You Think You Are, caught up with his actor friend Christopher Stollery and talk inevitably turned to his upcoming plays, in particular Mark Colvin’s Kidney. We greatly look forward to going to the play.

Hemingway once described courage as “grace under pressure” and you Mark have shown tremendous grace in recent years. I wish you optimal health, with less pressure, in the years ahead. Please keep reading, writing, and broadcasting. For these strengths are your gifts to us, your listeners and readers.

Kind regards

Colin Oriti