Vale Mark Colvin
11 May 2017
I was saddened
to hear of the passing of veteran Australian journalist and broadcaster Mark
Colvin.
Mark was a
calm, reassuring and natural voice and a fixed point of reference in a changing
media landscape.
He dedicated
his life to journalism, spending more than 40 years working on radio and
television at the ABC, where he provided in-depth coverage of some of the
world’s most significant events.
Mark was gifted
in languages and spent time as a foreign correspondent and reporter in London,
Europe and Africa, where he covered major stories such as the American hostage
crisis in Tehran, the end of the Cold War and the conflict in Rwanda.
His film about
the Ethiopian famine was internationally recognised with a Gold Medal at the
New York Film Festival and was nominated for an International Emmy Award.
Mark battled
ill health since 1994 when he became seriously ill with a rare auto immune
disease while covering the Rwandan genocide.
For the last 20
years, Mark was known by many Australians as the voice of authority on ABC
Radio's current affairs program PM and his insights and breadth of knowledge
will be greatly missed.