Mark Colvin | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1952-03-13)13 March 1952 London, England, UK |
| Died | 11 May 2017(2017-05-11) (aged 65) |
| Parent | John Colvin (father) |
| Career | |
| Show | PM |
| Station | Radio National |
| Network | ABC Radio |
| Style | News and current affairs |
| Country | Australia |
| Previous shows |
|
Mark Colvin (13 March 1952 – 11 May 2017) was an Australian journalist and radio and television broadcaster for theAustralian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), and worked on most of the flagship current affairs programs. Notably, based in Sydney, he was the presenter ofPM— the radio current affairs program on theABC Radio network — from 1997 to 2017.
Colvin graduated fromChrist Church,Oxford University, with a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in English literature and arrived in Australia in 1974.[1][2] With no clear career ambitions and failing as a builder's labourer, being susceptible to heat stroke in the strong Australian sun, the dole office steered him toward journalism.[3] In that year he commenced a traineeship with the ABC but had doubts during the year that he would stick with journalism.[4] Nevertheless, in January 1975 he commenced at the ABC's rock music station Double Jay (2JJ, now known asTriple J) as one of the foundation staff,[5] initially working as a cadet journalist. While at 2JJ, he presented news, conducted interviews, and produced current affairs and documentary specials until 1978. With strong foreign language skills in French, Italian and Spanish,[2] he was posted to the Canberra bureau and was appointed a television news producer. A year later he was one of the first reporters onNationwide, along withJenny Brockie,Paul Murphy, andAndrew Olle.[6]
In 1980, at the age of 28, Colvin was appointedforeign correspondent in London, and travelled to cover major stories, including theAmerican hostage crisis in Tehran and the rise ofSolidarity in Poland. During his time covering the Middle East, Colvin was deeply affected by the death of his interpreter, Bahram Dehqani-Tafti, a secular Iranian murdered and dumped outside a Tehran prison. Colvin believed that themullahs had a dispute withDehqani-Tafti's father,the Anglican bishop of Iran in exile in London.[2]
Colvin returned to Australia in 1983 and was initially a reporter on bothAM andPM, before agitating for the establishment of a midday news and current-affairs radio program.[2] Colvin became the founding presenter ofThe World Today onABC radio. The following year, Colvin went toBrussels as Europe correspondent, and covered the events across the continent as theCold War began to thaw and theGorbachev era started the process that would lead to the lifting of theIron Curtain.[6]
Between 1988 and 1992, Colvin was a reporter forFour Corners, making programs focused on,inter alia, theFrench massacre of Kanaks in New Caledonia, theextinction of Australia's fauna and theCambodian peace process. His feature onthe Ethiopian famine won a gold medal at theNew York Film Festival and was runner-up for anInternational Emmy Award.[6] In 1992, Colvin accepted another London posting, this time for television, mainly reporting forForeign Correspondent, the7.30 Report andLateline. His language skills and long European experience paid off in stories such as his series on the relationship between Italian organised crime and government, which culminated in the trial of former Prime MinisterGiulio Andreotti.[6]
In 1994, Colvin was deployed by the7.30 Report to Africa to coverthe unfolding tragedy in Rwanda. Travelling viaZaire, he witnessed an extensive human tragedy, in which about a million refugees were living in camps with poor sanitation and hygiene, withcholera anddysentery commonplace. Colvin was diagnosed withgranulomatosis with polyangiitis, a rare inflammation of blood vessels,[2] which nearly killed him.[7] After several months in hospital, during his convalescence he became aware of a side effect of the treatment—his hip joints collapsed and both hips had to be replaced.[8] He spent the next 18 months in Europe.
In 1997, Colvin returned to Sydney and started in his role as presenter for ABC Radio'sPM.[8] In November 2017 Colvin was inducted into The Australian Media Hall of Fame.[9]
On 22 March 2013, Colvin received akidney transplant from aliving donor.[10] Colvin, and the hospital and staff, allowed the process to be recorded for television.[11]
In a televised interview on 1 May 2013, the living donor of Colvin's transplanted kidney was revealed to be Mary-Ellen Field, whom Colvin had met while reporting on victims of theNews of the World/News International phone hacking scandal. Field had received unwanted notoriety after details of her working relationship withElle Macpherson had been revealed through reporting of messages from Field's hacked phone, causing Macpherson to sack Field. It was revealed that Colvin and Field had established a correspondence after the interview, finally meeting in 2011; that Field had decided to become a donor before revealing this to her husband; that the pair had considered naming the kidney "Rupert" (afterRupert Murdoch, chairman and chief executive officer ofNews Corporation, the parent company of News International that ownedNews of the World); and, that Colvin had declared aconflict of interest to his employer and ceased reporting on Field.[11]
During 2010, Colvin worked to raise the profile oforgan donation through interviews with a number of media agencies includingThe Sydney Morning Herald,[2]The Australian,[7]The Drum,[12]The 7.30 Report,[13] andLife Matters.[14]
The story of Colvin's kidney donation and the circumstances surrounding it was the subject of a stage play titledMark Colvin's Kidney by playwrightTommy Murphy. The play was produced by the Sydney theatre companyBelvoir withDavid Berthold as director, and a cast including actorJohn Howard as Colvin andSarah Peirse as Mary-Ellen Field.[15]
In 2016 Colvin released his autobiography,Light and Shadow: Memoirs of a Spy's Son.[16][17]
TheColvin family had a long history of military and administrative service to Australia, and previously to theBritish Empire. Colvin's father,John Horace Ragnar Colvin,[18] was aCold War diplomat, and the grandson of AdmiralSir Ragnar Colvin. He is the great-grandson of theIndia Officemandarin Clement Sneyd Colvin,[19] whose father wasJohn Russell Colvin. John Russell, son of anEast Indies trader, ended up lieutenant-governor of theNorth-West Provinces ofBritish India during themutiny of 1857, had ten children and founded a dynasty of Empire-builders. Through this line, Mark Colvin's extended family includesWalter Mytton,Auckland Colvin, also lieutenant-governor of the North-West Provinces andOudh; the landscape architectBrenda Colvin (1897–1981),[20] andSidney Colvin, a critic, curator, and great friend ofRobert Louis Stevenson.
Through his mother, Elizabeth Anne Manifold,[19] Colvin was the great-great-nephew of a Prime Minister of Australia,Viscount Bruce of Melbourne, who went on to be an international statesman and the firstChancellor of theAustralian National University.[21][22] He was also the step-son of AdmiralSir Anthony Synnot.[23] Colvin was married twice. He married his second wife, Michele Francesca McKenzie, in 1987. McKenzie is the mother of his two sons, Nicolas and William.[1][24]
On 11 May 2017, Colvin died aged 65, at thePrince of Wales Hospital inRandwick, over twenty years after contractinggranulomatosis with polyangiitis, the rare auto-immune condition which caused kidney failure in 2011.[8] Colvin survived the kidney transplant only to be diagnosed withmelanoma and then just before Easter in 2017 was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. He asked that anyone wishing to mark his death or honour his passing donate to the Prince of Wales Hospital Foundation.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
