Alan Ramsey
Alan Ramsey | |
---|---|
Born | Alan Graham Ramsey 3 January 1938 Hornsby, New South Wales, Australia |
Died | 24 November 2020 New South Wales, Australia | (aged 82)
Occupation |
|
Years active | 1953–2011 |
Spouse |
Jeanette (divorced) |
Alan Graham Ramsey (3 January 1938 – 24 November 2020) was an Australian journalist and columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald from 1986 to 2008. In a career spanning 56 years, he worked for The Daily Telegraph, The Australian, The Sydney Morning Herald, and the Australian Associated Press; covering the Vietnam War, Australian politics, and writing columns and opinion pieces. He was inducted into the Australian Media Hall of Fame in 2017.
Early life
Ramsey was born in Hornsby, Sydney ,New South Wales, on 3 January 1938 to Thelma Ruth Simmonds and Eric Ramsey.[3][1] His father worked assorted jobs including a factory job and a few sales jobs. He was the eldest of five siblings. His mother took him and his siblings to live at Chittaway Point, New South Wales, when his father was enlisted in the war.[3]
He completed his Intermediate Certificate studies from Gosford High School before joining The Daily Telegraph.[3]
Career
Ramsey started his career in journalism in 1953 as a copy boy and later as a cadet journalist working for Frank Packer, who then owned the Sydney Daily Telegraph.[2] Ramsay gained experience working for small newspapers in Mount Isa and Darwin, before joining Australian Associated Press (AAP). He was a correspondent for AAP in Port Moresby and London, before being appointed in 1965 as a correspondent to travel with the first contingent of Australian combat troops to Vietnam.[2] After returning to Australia, he was appointed to cover federal politics in Canberra for The Australian, in February 1966.[2]
During a parliamentary debate in 1971, Ramsey shouted "You liar!" from the
Ramsey wrote for a number of other publications before becoming a speech-writer and press secretary for
Writing about him in The Sydney Morning Herald, columnist Damien Murphy notes that his columns brought in a mix of "insights, anger, venom, sentimentality, and grace." He goes on to say that Ramsey through his columns was a "chronicler of Australia's march from Menzies to modernity."[3]
He was inducted into the Australian Media Hall of Fame in 2017.[8][9]
Personal life
Ramsey was married twice: first to Jeanette Murphy and then to journalist Laura Tingle. Ramsey and Tingle divorced in 2017. He had three children from his first marriage and a daughter from his second marriage.[1]
He died on 24 November 2020, aged 82, after suffering from dementia[1] and having spent the last months of his life in a nursing home on the south coast of New South Wales.[2]
Books
- Ramsey, Alan (2011). The Way They Were: The View from the Hill of the 25 Years That Remade Australia. University of New South Wales Press. ISBN 978-1-74223-271-3.
- Ramsey, Alan (2009). A Matter of Opinion. Allen & Unwin. ISBN 978-1-74176-905-0.
References
- ^ a b c d Madden, James (24 November 2020). "Fearless, courageous, uncompromising: journalist Alan Ramsey dies, aged 82". The Australian. Nationwide News Pty Ltd. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g Dye, Josh (24 November 2020). "Alan Ramsey, former Herald journalist, dies aged 82". The Sydney Morning Herald. Nine Entertainment Co. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
- ^ a b c d Murphy, Damien (24 November 2020). "Herald legend whose columns were a mix of insight, venom and grace". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
- ^ Attard, Monica. "Alan Ramsay(sic) :: Sunday Profile". ABC Sunday Profile. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 3 October 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
- ISBN 978-0-7336-2841-2.
- ^ Boadle, Donald (2021). "Sir William John (Bill) Aston (1916–1997)". Australian Dictionary of Biography.
- ^ Ramsey, Alan (6 November 2004). "No mercy in this bovver boy's payback". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
- ^ "Melbourne Press Club – Hall of Fame". Melbourne Press Club.
- ^ "Renowned reporter Alan Ramsey dies aged 82". au.news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 24 November 2020.[permanent dead link]