Veteran newsman ‘Flash’ Gordon McBride – one of the last of NZ’s old-school newspapermen –died “peacefully” in Wellington yesterday, aged 65, after a battle with cancer.
McBride, universally liked and respected by his colleagues, was a former Wellington bureau chief for 3 News. Before that, he was a key figure at the Southland Times, Christchurch Star, and the Auckland Star. He retired recently.
He was 17 when he began his career in newspapers, as a cadet at the Southland Times in 1968. He made the move to television at age 40.
“Gordon’s life was marked by an unwavering commitment to journalism, both serious and quirky, and to the value of a strong story simply presented,” read the death notice published in The Press.
“He fought a life-long but not always successful battle against jargon and cliché. Gordon loved life, good company, good wine, good food, good books, good music and good films. He had precise views about what “good’ meant in each of these contexts.
His funeral will be at Old St Paul’s, 34 Mulgrave Street, Wellington this Thursday 8 December 8 at 2pm.
- Last year, McBride’s friend, journalist Colin Hogg published Afterglow: Going South, a travel memoir recounting a southern road trip the pair took after McBride broke the news of his illness. It’s available from HarperCollins ($34.99).
- More here
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