THE Weekly is in mourning after the death of one of our most experienced and respected journalists on Monday of last week.
Tributes for Mike Morris came in from around Australia at his funeral service on Friday in Chelsea, where he was reckoned among the nation's most distinguished scribes never to have worked at a major daily newspaper.
His friend Kevin McDonald observed that Morris was an iconoclast who could never have fitted with the strictures of a large daily.
"I worked with Mike in the 1980s and was amazed by his care for his subjects; the little people mattered to him," he said.
Federal and state politicians of both major parties attended the service, a testament to Morris's fair and fearless form over a career of more than 40 years.
Keith Platt, former editor of the Independent News Group - which was acquired in 2006 by Fairfax Media, publisher of the Weekly - described Morris as the "most eloquent of all of us". Independent founder and former editorial director Tony Murrell said he was "the best journalist I ever employed". They agreed he could turn his hand to any story.
Morris grew up in Ormond and was educated by the Christian Brothers before working in insurance and then joining the army, aged 23.
In a moving eulogy, his brother Peter recalled thinking that the army might be disastrous for a sensitive soul like Morris, who had a rebellious streak and valued independence of mind above all.
Morris often spoke of his three years in the forces, during which he rose to the rank of corporal, and they were important in the formation of his fierce sense of justice.
Friday's service ended with a tribute by Chelsea RSL, of which Morris was a member, and a wake was held at the club, not far from his home.
After the army, Morris finally found his metier at the left-wing newspaper Nation Review, where he carved a niche among some of Australia's brightest minds and best writers, becoming the arts editor and commissioning work from emerging artists who would become household names, such as Booker Prize-winning author Peter Carey.
He moved to New South Wales in the 1980 and was the editor of the Picton Post and the Liverpool Champion.
On his return to Melbourne he joined the Dandenong Examiner in 1992, a beat he enjoyed for its variety, breaking news and colourful characters.
He next took on the Chelsea Independent, where nothing escaped his notice, then the Frankston Independent, which became Frankston Weekly, where he quickly built a strong list of contacts, the hallmark of every good reporter.
Extraordinarily well read, Morris had an encyclopedic knowledge of history and the arts and was a gifted raconteur; smoko breaks with him were always illuminating and often hilarious. Morris's health began to fail in recent months but his intellect and thirst for a good story were undimmed and he resisted the retirement that loomed.
His friends and colleagues at the Weekly's Mornington office were shocked when he collapsed at work last Monday, but it was generally felt a fitting end for a man who could not imagine life without writing.
Morris is survived by Peter, his sister Marita, stepdaughter Aislinn and her children Keeley and Kara and numerous nieces and nephews. He was 68.
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